Cupid's Egg
by crimsonthread
Summary: AU Chiho Saito, J.K.Rowling.PreOotP. Lily wakes up one morning to find that she's pregnantand decides she needs a father for the child. Her first choice? Of course: James Potter! FINISHED...except for Epilogue
1. Chapter 1: First Impressions

**_Disclaimer_**_:  
Chances are, it's not mine. Chiho Saito/J.K.Rowling—pick one. And...yeah. Okay I'm done._

** Chapter 1: First Impressions**

Morning light filtered through the branches of trees, tracing patterns across a wall and glass windowpane. Inside, water was gurgling and a pleasant hum emanated from the general vicinity of the bathroom. 

And then it stopped…

…and was replaced by a quiet retching.

Minutes later, a face peered into the gilt-edged mirror above the sink. Red-gold hair spilled over in disheveled curls around pale skin, lustrous green eyes, and pretty mouth bent into a perplexed frown.

Lily Evans put her hands to her abdomen and swallowed. Hard.

"Am I..."

***

"...pregnant? I mean, it's really possible!"

Lily spun around in her seat, straw still sticking out of her mouth. It dripped cider into her lap for a few moments before she noticed it and returned it to her glass. Peering curiously through the leaves of a bush separating her table from the bar, she located the source of the voice: a young, pretty witch with short blonde hair. The woman was dressed in bright robes of robin's egg blue and sat at the bar sipping from a small glass of—from the looks of it—Tom's special cherry rum. Next to her was a man in neat black business robes. As he turned his head, Lily caught sight of his profile—he was, she admitted to herself, rather good-looking and strangely familiar. He had untidy black hair and a pair of glasses perched rakishly on his face, along with an extremely bored expression.

"So?" the man asked, shrugging.

"What do you mean, 'so?'" the woman turned to him, obviously getting very worked up. "James Potter, you're horrible! I was up all last night worrying about it, and you say 'so?'!!!"

The man sighed. "Meghan, you said you had something important to tell me, so I skived off a meeting just to come see you here. Was that it?"

She ignored him. "I kept sending owl after owl, but never got any reply! What do I do if it starts to show? I'd have to quit work..." She pulled out a handkerchief and began dabbing at distraught tears leaking out of her eyes.

By this time, Lily was crouched behind the planter box, hands holding leaves and branches aside so she could have a clear view of the couple at the bar.  It wasn't every day she got to witness drama firsthand.

"So you went to St. Mungo's to get the tests done," he said in an expressionless voice, his head still turned away. "And you got the results back already. You're not pregnant."

The woman froze.

Lily froze.

Grizzled old Tom, who was manning the counter as usual, made no attempt to disguise his avid eavesdropping. He froze and nearly dropped a bottle.

"How—how did you know??" the woman spluttered.

The man turned to her with an ironic grin. "Well, most women who find out they're pregnant and want to keep the baby refrain from drinking alcoholic beverages." He indicated her cherry rum. "Besides which, you're still wearing those stiletto heels...not at all like a responsible pregnant woman, Meghan."

The woman looked stunned.

"You were hoping to squeeze a marriage proposal out of this whole pregnancy farce, weren't you?" asked the man, taking a sedate sip of his own cocktail. "But...it wouldn't have mattered even if you _were_ pregnant. Marriage was never a feasible option. It never is, when a relationship no longer exists. It hasn't existed for a long—"

Lily gasped.

"You bastard!" The woman threw her glass at the man's face and stormed off. The container struck his cheek and fell to the floor, shattering into a thousand shards of glass.

The man sat there with dripping robes for a while. He looked slightly surprised, but not really shocked. He casually cast a cleaning charm on his robes, a repairing spell on the glass pieces, and gingerly touched the spot on his cheek where the glass had made contact. The skin was already purpling into a bruise. He turned back to the counter and ordered another drink.

Lily tossed a handful of coins on her table, gulped the last of her cider, and left the pub.

***

"Hello, Prongs, old chap!" called a familiar voice. "What's that on your face?"

James Potter turned from his drink at the bar toward Sirius Black, who came striding into the Leaky Cauldron with his usual flair, winking at women as he went. As he settled down in the seat next to his friend, he dropped a small package into James's lap.

"Don't you 'old chap' me, you prat," James said grumpily, scowling at his friend. "It's all your fault my cheek's got a mottled purple lump on it. What's this?" He picked up the package in his lap. "An ice pack?"

"Cold compress, James," replied Sirius. "Got some handy healing spells on it too, methinks. Anyway, what happened with Meghan? Is she pregnant?"

"No, she just wanted to weasel a proposal out of you." James put the compress to his face and sighed in relief. "Ah, that feels good. Thanks, old boy. Next time, though, save us both the trouble and use protection, alright?"

"Yeah, yeah," Sirius waved a hand dismissively. "By the way, what'd you do to make Lily Evans sweet on you? She's the one who sent me along with the compress, you know. I would've just dropped in at your flat later tonight otherwise."

"I should've known you wouldn't've been considerate enough to think of this on your own," groaned James, adjusting the compress to his cheek. "Who's Lily Evans?"

Sirius smacked James upside the head. "'Who's Lily Evans?' he asks me! Just Old Terrence's daughter, that's who!" He paused contemplatively. "And a looker as well. Those eyes...and those legs..."

"Yeah, well, now's not the time for you to indulge in fantasies, you great twat," James said loftily. "No idea who she is, though the name sounds familiar. _Terrence's_ daughter? Must be a regular little spoiled princess."

Sirius shook his head emphatically as he downed the rest of James's drink. James raised an eyebrow at him and leaned an elbow on the counter. "Well, does she work?"

"Of course she does!"

"Where?"

"In Defense, like us, of course," Sirius nodded to Tom as he was passed a firewhiskey. "She's in admin, though, reports directly to Terrence."

James whistled. "So she's pretty high up there. Older witch?"

"No, Prongs, don't you remember anything, Mr. Head Boy??" Sirius frowned at him sternly. "She was a year or two behind us at Hogwarts. Prefect. Heard she made Head Girl after we left. Caused quite a stir, her being Muggle-born and all."

"_Muggle_-born? But if she's Terrence's daughter...?"

"_Adopted_ daughter. Her parents were killed in our sixth year. Remember that attack in Surrey?"

"Oh? _Oh_....oh, right..."

"Yeah. From what I heard, she did some part-time charmwork for the Ministry during her later years at Hogwarts with recommendations from Flitwick and Dumbledore. That's how she met Terrence, and you know how the man lost his whole family a few years back...guess they found that they got on well together, and he adopted her so she'd have someplace to go after Hogwarts."

"I see." James drained his glass and dropped the cold pack to the counter. The bruise on his cheek was barely visible now. "Well, the meeting's over. Terrence'll have my head if he finds I've been off again. Dunno who this Lily person is, but if I get a chance to I'll look her up." He clapped a hand on Sirius's back before walking out. "And don't get involved with girls like Meghan anymore—they just spell trouble!"

***

Terrence Carruthers's collapse made front-page headlines of _The Daily Prophet_. 

Even though the heart attack wasn't fatal, it was severe enough to incapacitate the Head of Dark Force Defense for several weeks. The fact that it had come directly after several rumored Ministry break-in attempts seemed to show that the strain of the job was wearing on him. Many people said that it was due to the tragic loss of his wife and only daughter several years ago that he had become careless enough to allow his health to go.

Fortunately, in his absence, he left his work in capable hands. Lily Evans, his adopted daughter, had already begun to live up to her potential after being Head Girl at Hogwarts and one of Dumbledore's rising talents. Entering into Defense immediately upon graduation, she underwent promotions by leaps and bounds and had ended up as Head of the League's administrative bureau before she had even left her teens. Popular, intelligent, hardworking, and beautiful to boot, Lily was one of those girls who men dreamt of and sought after but never hoped to attain.

Or that was what James concluded anyway.

He'd met Lily (finally) at a meeting she'd called the day of her father's hospitalization. Sirius had made the necessary introduction—James wondered how his best friend seemed to know her so well when he'd been so completely oblivious to her presence before—and the redhead had sent him a sweet smile that rendered him temporarily speechless. Then she'd politely excused herself and walked off to speak with the others in a flurry of shining red-gold hair and miles of slender, curving leg. Sirius had whistled softly under his breath as he took in the sight, which for some reason irked James beyond reason and made him shove his friend with a little more force than necessary.

James had wanted to whistle, too.

***

"He is SO ANNOYING!" Lily hollered as she stomped through the house.

"Master loves you," the house-elf said tremulously, as it followed Lily through the corridors. "Master only wants to show how much he loves Miss Lily...Master is showing how much he cares..."

"Yes well he could definitely show his love in more constructive ways," Lily grumbled. "First he's such a difficult patient that they kick him out of St. Mungo's and send him home, and then he starts throwing tantrums because people from the office come to visit him and he thinks they're _boring_. People are only showing how much _they_ care about _him_, honestly!" She slammed through a room, rolling up her sleeves. "I suppose I'll have to go hunt up some people who can keep him entertained while I get some work done..."

At this point, she walked straight into a wall.

Or rather, what she'd thought was a wall. 

Lily looked up with a surprised expression into the equally surprised face of James Potter.

"Sorry," James said, before he realized who it was he'd bumped into. Then he looked into those sparkling green depths and felt something in his chest constrict.

"James! Are you leaving now?"

The pair turned toward the voice. It was Terrence Carruthers, bedridden, it was true—but surrounded by beautiful witches in brilliant colors. And, apparently, quite happy that way.

"Yes, sir, I just wanted to drop by and escort these ladies here to see you," James said, bowing slightly. "I thought you might need some cheering visitors."

The older man grinned cheekily. "Only James knows what I like. Thank you, son, apparate safely!"

James waved and shut the door. Turning, he found himself once again alone in a narrow corridor with Lily Evans. As he gazed down at her eyes..and hair...and skin...he vaguely wondered where the house-elf had disappeared to. He stopped wondering abruptly when Lily ran a finger from the collar of his robes down to his stomach. His breath caught in his throat.

She smiled.

"Thanks for keeping Terrence happy," she said. She looked up at him consideringly for a few moments. With a completely serious look on her face, she said softly, "I think you might be the one."

"The one—the one what?" James finally found his voice and asked the first thing that came to mind. He was acutely aware that his face had heated up from the contact and that Lily's hair gave off the faintest smell of...lavender, yes, that was it. Silky waves tumbled around her shoulders. He had to clench his fist to keep from reaching out to touch them.

Lily gave him a mysterious smile and walked away, throwing him just one enticing backwards glance as she rounded the corner, hips swaying, and disappeared from sight. James realized his heart was beating a little erratically. Inadvertently one side of his mouth curved upwards as he jammed his hands in his pockets and apparated away.

A/ N:

I'm slowly, slowly reposting this because I feel guilty for not finishing it. :]

For those who are interested—this is based off Chiho Saito's short-story "Cupid's Egg" (rough translation). It can be found in her series "Love Stories," (what does that translate to, "Koi Monogatari?") which in itself isn't that great of a series...I just happened to like this story. Anyway, it's in volumes 4 and 5.


	2. Chapter 2: The Proposal

**_Disclaimer_**_:  
Chances are, it's not mine. Chiho Saito/J.K.Rowling—pick one. (Chiho Saito's series "Love Stories," short-story in vol. 4) And...yeah. Okay I'm done._

**Chapter 2: The Proposal**

"So tell me, James, what did you do?" Sirius threw himself down on a sofa in James's bachelor flat in London. The study was chock-filled with an assortment of books, papers, magazines, newspapers, old mementos, trophies, and waving photographs. Cleaning wasn't James's strong point.

"What do you mean, what did I do?" James asked distractedly as he rifled through the papers that cluttered his desk. He turned toward the doorway to the living room. "Tilly, have you seen my newest set of files??"

A small squeak was heard as a tiny house-elf appeared holding a bright yellow envelope. James accepted the package gratefully, thanking the house-elf, who blushed and disappeared again.

"To make Lily fall for you, of course!" Sirius reclined lazily on the sofa. "Don't tell me you didn't notice the way she smiled at you at the meeting—"

"Padfoot, you're seeing things," James interrupted stoically, frowning as he eyed the contents of the folder.

"Oh no I'm not!" Sirius said indignantly. "And would you just _talk_ to me for a minute? _Accio_!"

The envelope flew out of James's hands and into Sirius's. James shot an exasperated look at his friend and pushed his glasses up on his nose. "What??"

"Look, James, we both got into the League around the same time after graduation. We've been hanging around for the past four years—"

"_Going on_ four years. It hasn't been that long!"

Sirius went on as if he hadn't spoken. "And while we'd both make _great_ Aurors, it's not like either of us has done anything that really deserved a whole lot of recognition. Far as I've seen, you've been quite content to stay out of the spotlight up till now. So I'd like to know what's suddenly changed your mind, and what exactly you've been doing to get Lily eating out of your hand."

"She's not eating out of my hand!" exclaimed James. "And I haven't been getting recognition!"

"James, you've been working overtime for the past two weeks! They've been giving you all the big cases to do and I heard Morgan say that they're considering giving you a promotion! Don't tell me you haven't been pulling strings—"

"Well, I don't know what you're expecting from me, because I _haven't_. And I still don't see how you're making this all connect to Lily."

Sirius released an exasperated sigh and threw the envelope at James's head. Of course, James caught it. "The girl's been taking charge of most things in the office since Terrence has been laid up. One of the jobs that Terrence always reserved for himself was allotting work to different branches or specific people as the case might be. Since he's gone, it's all fallen into Lily's hands."

"How's she handling the job, anyway?" James asked nonchalantly, returning to flipping through his papers.

"Just fine, she's doing a—NOW WAIT A MINUTE! You're trying to change the subject!"

"No, no I'm not."

"Yes you are! You—"

"Am I interrupting something?"

The two wizards turned toward the fireplace where the head of Morgan, Carruthers's secretary, bobbed merrily in the flames.

"No, of course not, Morgan. What is it?" James said, pointedly ignoring Sirius's mutterings.

"I...see. Well," the russet-haired wizard smirked at the two of them before continuing in a more sober tone. "James, you're to report to Carruthers's office in ten minutes. Don't be late."

"Wait, but—" There was a distinct popping noise, and the head disappeared before James could finish his question. "Carruthers's office? Does that mean he's back?"

Sirius looked thoughtful. "Last I heard he was driving everyone—including the house-elves—absolutely nutters. You know how fussy the man is."

James rolled his eyes and straightened his robes. "Well, then, I s'ppose I ought to get going. See you in a bit, Sirius."

And before his friend could say another word, James apparated away.

***

James arrived in front of the office door labeled "Carruthers, Head of Defense" promptly three minutes before the scheduled time.

"Go on in," Morgan assured him. "She's expecting you."

_She?_ James wondered briefly before knocking and opening the door.

Sitting in the swivel chair facing the doorway in all her red and gold glory was one Lily Evans. It struck James again quite forcibly, as it had every other time he'd glimpsed her at the office in the past week or so, that if Gryffindor had ever needed a mascot, a muse, or a goddess, Lily Evans would have been made to order. Her red-gold hair gleaming in the light and her graceful, nearly feline posture brought to mind a Gryffindor in multiple senses of the word. She smiled disarmingly at him for a moment. He stood there gaping at her for quite some time before he realized she'd spoken.

"Come again?" he asked, flustered.

She smiled, her eyes crinkling up endearingly. "I asked if you would accompany me to the site of the newest break-in. Terrence won't allow me to go alone and Morgan recommended you for escort as according to him you're a 'dependable sort of bloke.'" She smiled at him again.

"Of course."

Damned if he could resist that smile.

***

As they surveyed the shattered remnants of defense charms and wards around the building James wondered if Lily really understood everything she was looking at—the extent of the damage, the technicalities behind the breaks.

"It doesn't look like the work of Death Eaters," Lily said finally.

"Because there isn't a Dark Mark?" said James, lifting an eyebrow.

Lily lifted an eyebrow of her own. "Well, yes, but the style doesn't match any of the Death Eaters' on record. It doesn't have to have the Dark Mark above it to be the work of one of Voldemort's supporters, you know."

James could feel his jaw drop slightly, and not just because she'd said Voldemort's name so casually aloud. "You remember every Death Eater's record?"

Lily blushed slightly. "Well, I did make sure to know the basics. After all, it's my job." She paused before turning to some of the Ministry workers who were milling about the site. "I'm going to ask them some questions about this now, if you'll wait for a few minutes, James." She waved and set off before he could reply.

James watched for several minutes as Lily made her way around the site, speaking to various officials and, apparently, remembering everything without having to make physical notes. He was more impressed than ever at her knowledge and assorted capabilities; he could see why Terrence would trust the girl with the running of the administrative bureau (and basically the entire League!) in his absence.

Dusk was gathering by the time Lily finished up. James had taken the wait time to get a bit of his own work done, and he'd conducted some surface investigation into the case himself.

"Do you mind if we stop by the house on the way back?" Lily asked. "It will only take a few minutes—I left some paperwork there." Seeing James's hesitation, she smiled wryly and sighed. "I know it's out of the way....I wouldn't be asking this of you except that I've got to finish filling it all out by the end of today or there's no way the Ministry will get to processing it by next week. And Morgan'll throw a fit if I arrive back at headquarters alone."

It made sense. Why they were walking toward the nearest house, however, James couldn't fathom.

"Er...are we going to apparate?" James felt extremely stupid.

"Well, I prefer using floo actually...haven't felt up to apparating in a bit..." Lily trailed off, her brow furrowing. James smiled and reassured her that flooing was fine by him as well.

***

James stumbled a little as he stepped out of the fireplace and quickly steadied himself as he looked about. He was thankful, though slightly confused, when he realized that he was the only one in the room.

"Miss Evans?" he called tentatively. She was younger than he was, it was true, but it would be strange to start calling her by her first name, wouldn't it?....Wouldn't it?

"In here!" her voice answered sweetly.

He followed the sound and arrived at what must have been the master bedroom. Completely decorated in dull gold, there was a singular running Muggle-cupid motif with chubby angelic babies aiming arrows left and right over the tapestries. It took several moments for his eyes to adjust fully to the dim candlelight that flickered through the room and several more moments before he realized that it was Lily who lay across the bed in an unmistakably—he gulped—seductive manner.

It was really strange to say the least.

But not necessarily unpleasant.

He gulped again.

"Would you," Lily said softly, darting him a sultry glance with alluring emerald eyes as her tongue darted out to lick her lips, "marry me?"

James had been accused by Sirius of having bad hearing but this was by far the most telling evidence of it he'd experienced. He blinked rapidly. He was finding it increasingly difficult to breathe normally.  Or to think.

Lily took his silence as encouragement and continued. "I'm not joking." She took his hand and pulled him to her slowly as she continued to speak softly. "I've read about your background. Your family consisted of yourself and your mother before she died while you were still a fifth year at Hogwarts. One of your most outstanding dreams is to be promoted to Head of the Dark Force Defense." She wrapped his unresisting arms around her waist and propped herself up on her knees as she twined her own arms around his neck. She looked up at him with half-closed, shimmering green eyes. "I can make that dream come true, you know. If you marry me, you'll be promoted."

James tried to think rationally even though he found Lily's eyes..and hands...and...everything...to be thoroughly distracting. _This can't be right. Good things never come so easily....Why me?_

As Lily removed his glasses and reached up to kiss his jaw he forced himself to take a small step backwards.

"Wait a second, Evans," he managed with difficulty. "You're up to something..."

"Of course not," she purred. Her hands were playing with the hairs at the nape of his neck. He swallowed. "I just liked you from the first time I saw you, that's all."

"What's to like?" he asked bluntly. He really wasn't thinking all too clearly. "When did you start liking me? Was it that cold press incident?"

"Yes, it was then," Lily said, resting her head against his chest. James wondered if she could hear his heart beating erratically through his robes.

"You were so cool, rejecting the girl like that," she said, looking up at him. "You told her your relationship didn't exist anymore. When you said that, I knew that the wizard I was looking for was you. That you'd be willing to enter into a whirlwind relationship, and that you'd have no trouble moving on from it once the love ran out."

That last comment made James snap back to reality.

"Then you've got it wrong," he said, his eyes narrowing. _This girl's up to something._ "I was merely relaying a message to her from a friend. I was never involved with Meghan—Sirius was. I'm not the man you're looking for."

At his first words, Lily had paused. As he continued, her eyes widened and she abruptly let go of him. "You're joking," she exclaimed, her tone completely different.

_What is she after?_

James pulled her back to him roughly. "If that's the sort of person you're looking for, then it shouldn't matter if I do _this_, should it?" He began to push her down on the bed, climbing over her and pinning her arms down with his own. 

As he'd expected, she began to struggle and writhe under him. She turned her head away, and when she realized that he wasn't going to let her go, she cried out: 

"Stop! You'll hurt the baby!"

James froze. _The baby???_

***

"All right, all right," Lily said, looking extremely put out. She crossed her arms over her chest and scowled. James scowled back at her, mentally cursing her for making even scowls look attractive.

"I'll tell you the truth, then," she said. "I'm nearly two months pregnant. And for various reasons, well, ...for one thing, I refuse to get an abortion. For another, I can't marry the child's father. And if I were to tell Terrence about this, he'd definitely make me get an abortion, so I can't do that either. You know Terrence! He's so overprotective of me sometimes it's frightening! He'll go ballistic if he finds out I'm pregnant with no husband in sight!"

"Well, Terrence loves you and—"

"I know he does! And that's the reason I think he'll grow reconciled to a baby once it's born—he'll come to love it, fatherless or not. But I need to _have_ the baby first, and for that, I need to be married!"

James just sat on the bed looking at her blankly. "What?"

"Listen, it would only be a marriage in name," Lily said desperately, trying to look persuasive. "I just need to borrow your name, that's it! When the baby is born in July or August we can get a divorce!" She pulled out a large sheet of parchment that James hadn't noticed previously. "I've laid out all the rules and stipulations of this contract right here! We'll get married, we'll pretend to be a couple for a while, I'll have the baby on my own, and we can get divorced directly after! I'll double your salary and you'll get the promotion at work you've always wanted once Terrence officially retires!"

James was still dumbfounded by what she'd been saying...his mind was reeling. "But if we get divorced, Terrence will _kill_ me!"

Lily almost laughed—the look on her face was victorious, as if she were sure of getting James's consent to this preposterous proposal. "Don't worry about that—I've got it all figured out! I'll just behave really poorly towards you as the marriage progresses, and I'll have affairs with other men so that everyone will sympathize with you, even Terrence! I'll act like a—a disreputable woman!"

"IDIOT!" James found himself yelling before he could even think straight. Lily, taken aback by his outburst, scuttled away from him on the bed. "DON'T HAVE THE BABY! Have you even considered what it would be like for the baby, to grow up with a mother like that?? Just get an abortion!"

Lily flushed. "Look, I'm talking business with you—I didn't bring this up so you could _preach_ at me..."

"Business? You think this is business?" James's eyes had narrowed to slits and his voice had softened dangerously. He picked up the parchment that lay on the bedspread between them and carefully ripped it into several pieces. "_That's_ what I think of your contract. Miss Evans, you've misjudged your man. If I were really who you'd assumed I was from the incident you saw at the Leaky Cauldron, I would probably accept your terms. But there's one thing you didn't get out of the research and memorizing of my background—the fact that my mother was a single mother as well." He looked away from her as he continued to speak. "I've never told anyone about this before, but....my father was a married man when he got my mother pregnant. He didn't intend to leave his wife for her, and since she was a kindhearted person, she never made demands of him and decided to have me and raise me herself." He laughed bitterly. "We weren't rich, like you are...eking out a living for ourselves was a major trial, not to mention all the snubbing we got from people everywhere. My mother died from overwork when I was eleven. It wasn't until I was thirteen that my father decided to take me in, as he didn't have a legitimate son and his wife had died of illness. I grew to love my father, but I never wholly forgave him for causing my mother's death and all those years of misery we'd suffered."

He turned back to Lily suddenly and spoke almost savagely. "Get an abortion. Your having the child like this won't do the child any good...it will just grow up to become someone like me."

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH BEING LIKE YOU?" Lily burst out angrily. "You're good-looking and intelligent! You were popular at Hogwarts, and you were Head Boy in your seventh year! You were one of Dumbledore's protégés! We all _looked up _to you!"

James stopped and stared at Lily hard for a few seconds before averting his eyes and turning away once more. "Thanks," he muttered.

"Besides which," Lily continued, her eyes welling up. "You never regretted being born, did you? It's so good to be alive...you've often had that thought, haven't you?"

James ignored her last speech. "Either way, just don't go through with this. It causes too many problems. I won't tell Terrence—" He was cut off by a pillow to the face.

"FORGET IT!" cried Lily. "JUST FORGET IT! You don't understand.  I won't ask you for help again!" She took off running out of the room. 

Without thinking, James gave chase. "Where are you—"

Lily turned to make a face at him before she apparated away.

"APPARATING'S BAD FOR PREGNANT WOMEN!" James yelled after her.

_I can't believe she'd go to all that trouble just to have the illegitimate child of some guy who's probably married, with a family. I. Don't. Understand. Women._

But still, as he reluctantly left alone for headquarters, he couldn't help but hear Lily's voice in his head:

_It's so good to be alive...you've often had that thought, haven't you?_


	3. Chapter 3: The Farce Begins

**_Disclaimer_**_:  
Chances are, it's not mine. Chiho Saito/J.K.Rowling—pick one. (Chiho Saito's series "Love Stories," short-story in vol. 4) And...yeah. Okay I'm done._

**Chapter 3: The Farce Begins **

James was distinctly disturbed the next Monday morning at seeing Sirius zoom by his desk with a manic grin on his face. Such an expression could only mean two things—1)Sirius had found a new and ingenious way to torture Snape and/or various authoritative figures, or 2)Sirius had gotten in good with a member of the female species—human or mechanical (as he was known to get quite worked up over his flying motorbike). Neither of which boded well for the rest of the population.

It turned out to be the latter.

"Looks like I've struck it big FINALLY," Sirius panted, as he skidded to a halt just past James's desk and lounged against a partition. His hair was uncharacteristically mussed, though not rivaling James's untidy mop, and he still wore that frightening bordering-on-sanity's-edge expression. Coworkers kept their distance.

"Eh?" James blinked up at his best friend with a puzzled look. He took his glasses off to wipe the lenses and peered at Sirius's now blurry form with more sinking wariness than friendly curiosity.

"Oh yes. Just been called—guess where? Carruuutherrrssss'sss offiiiicccce!" Sirius practically sang. He ran a hand through his hair, causing it to settle back into its usual sleekness. 

The simple motion somehow managed to irritate James beyond words. He had to sit, seething, for several seconds before he could recover control of his vocal chords. He dropped his glasses and hit his head on the table while looking for them, which added to his happy jolly dandy mood.

Sirius didn't notice, as he was preoccupied with checking his appearance in a small hand-mirror that had, it seemed, materialized out of nowhere.

 "So?" James finally spat, turning back to his paperwork. Without looking up, he continued along the same tones. "Is that all? I'd thought you'd gotten a promotion finally or managed to dig up some juicy tidbits 'bout McGonagall at the very least. Sirius, you ought to go back to work. You waste FAR too much time."

"Oh don't be such a spoilsport," Sirius whinged, crossing his arms over his chest. James realized yet again that from an objective point of view, Sirius was quite good-looking, if one liked the daredevil sort of look. Which he didn't. What were the women thinking anyway?

"Since Terrence is reportedly still at home, guess who's in the office?"

"Who?" asked James dryly, after a lengthy pause during which he decided he REALLY didn't want to know.

"Lily Evannssss!" Sirius gave another rendition of his manic grin accompanied by some tricky eyebrow work.

"Why would you want anything to do with _her_?" James nearly yelled. A few heads turned to stare and he lowered his voice. "She's nothing special. She's bad news. Stay away from her, Padfoot."

"I believe you're just jeeealouuus," taunted Sirius, and took off once more, laughing a bit madly. James shook his head slowly and watched Sirius disappear from sight with a creased brow. _Bloody wanker._

The next half-hour found James squirming around in his seat and flinging bits of tattered quills about as though they'd done him personal injury. He spent a good ten minutes searching for his glasses once again, which were—as always—on his nose. Then he made a great mess of his desk by thumping dusty reference tomes on it and upsetting a cup of tea one of his many admirers at the office had thoughtfully left for him. This reminder of his numerous admirers had something of a calming influence on him, and he stopped throwing things about long enough to down the remainder of his tea in one gulp.

Sirius was walking down the corridor from Carruthers's office, whistling blithely and twirling his wand. (James suddenly choked on his tea.) He wandered toward his own desk area without turning to look at anyone else (a first for Sirius). James had to restrain himself from peering over the office partitions. He was glad he hadn't, a second later, when Sirius reemerged victoriously holding a thick roll of parchment. Still whistling, he headed back to the office. James released a breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding after the door slammed behind Sirius's back.

A lengthy period of time later (well, more like twelve minutes and forty-three point six seven seconds by James's old Muggle pocketwatch, but really, that was just an estimate), Sirius emerged from the office looking pensive—a look Sirius didn't often sport and which scared James rather badly. As he meandered along the corridor past James's desk, James reached out and grabbed the back of his robes. Sirius turned to arch an eyebrow at him.

 "What?"

 "What'd you two talk about for so long?"

Sirius gave James a withering, disdainful look. "I don't believe I'll tell you."

 "What??" James cried, jaw dropping.

"Well you've been un-supportive of my going to see her and so generally GRUMPY that I don't feel like talking to you at all." Sirius stuck his tongue out childishly and walked off with a decided spring in his step. "She _does_ have a smashing figure though, doesn't she?"

He'd disappeared before James could get another word in. James sat in silence, pondering what Sirius had said and trying to read into it for unspoken meanings, when he heard a distinct tapping noise behind him. Spinning round, he found one of his least favorite people at the moment leaning against his desk, an angrily triumphant look on her face.

 "I see how it is," Meghan hissed through clenched teeth. She stopped tapping her foot on the ground, turned sharply on her heel, and walked off, flicking her blonde curls out of her eyes. Once again, James was left without a word to put in edgewise. Once again, it threw him off. He was just turning numbly back to his work when a shadow fell over his desk.

 "What, what, WHAAAAT?" he demanded, looking up.

Lily smiled her usual winning smile; it didn't take a genius to notice that it didn't extend to her eyes. She turned away without saying anything and began to walk off, only to bump into Sirius, who had come back round the corner. She gave him a brilliant smile, which he returned with one of his most dashing. He gallantly held out an arm, which she took, and led her off. James watched as they paused in her office doorway, heads huddled together, obviously in the midst of some deep discussion. As they finally parted ways, James caught Lily's words of parting and inadvertently dropped a stack of folders onto his tea (magically refilled!).

"Thanks so much Sirius—you don't know what this means to me!"

***

Thanks to Carruthers's quick recovery, the whole of Dark Force Defense turned out for a feast Lily was giving in his honor. The small banquet room of the Carruthers residence was brimming with activity as people ate, talked, and mingled. Low music played in the background, accompanying the tinkling of glass and muted voices of the guests.

James was standing off in a corner near the grand entrance sipping gillywater when a sudden hush fell over the room. Turning, he felt his own breath catch in his throat. Practically glowing in a deep gray silk, Lily had her hair pulled loosely from her face in a smooth sheath of red threaded with gold. The tamed curls gave her an austere look, softened only by expressive green eyes that sparkled in appreciation at the sight of so many well-wishers. James shrank back into his corner, wary of coming in contact with the hostess, when a sudden movement on her part forced him out into the open.

Sneaky cracks in the floor. Always catch a person's toes unaware.

He caught her just before she would have hit the ground. The unexpectedness of it all made him burst out with the first thing that came to mind. "Would you be more careful??" he said in a low voice, helping her regain her footing. "You've got two lives in your hands now, not just one."

"Then it's lucky that I've apparently got your Chaser reflexes on my side, now isn't it?" she answered coolly, shrugging off his touch. He moved away immediately, crossing his arms over his chest in a familiar defensive gesture.

There was an awkward silence as Lily gave him an unreadable look.

James hated awkward silences.

 "What were you and Sirius talking about that day in the office?" he blurted, wanting to smack himself repeatedly over the head until he passed out even as he said it. "You didn't try to run the contract by him, did you? Don't get Sirius involved in this—"

 "You've already washed your hands of this affair, haven't you?" Lily said sweetly. Her face was very pale but her eyes were flashing fire. "Let. Go."

James released his hold on her arm—he hadn't even realized he'd been gripping it. She moved away as someone called to her from the crowd. Plunging into the group of people almost recklessly, her expression turned into one of smiling delight. She was really good at playing hostess and handling "situations"—James realized it was probably one of the qualities she possessed that had made Dumbledore give her the title of Head Girl. Not that he cared. As he closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall he could still see with odd clarity her bright hair flickering across the room.

***

In the place of honor, Terrence Carruthers sat surrounded by his employees. Most of those clustered around him waiting to serve him tea and whatever delicacies his recuperating stomach would demand were attractive and female—a fact that would surely have brought messy gossip upon his head had they not all been competent workers as well. It wasn't _his _fault, he often reminded himself, that he'd gotten the best of the best.

He smiled as someone cracked a joke. His smile widened as he observed Lily weaving through the room of people, talking to them, laughing, and generally playing the part of the model hostess. She was beautiful, the gray of her dress somehow setting off the green in her eyes just so. A surge of protectiveness welled up in him as he followed her slim form across the room...at times like these, he really missed his wife and daughter. While he loved Lily like he would have loved another daughter, the both of them knew that neither would ever fill the gaps left by their own real families.

"Sir?"

He turned to realize that some of the people surrounding him had cleared a pathway for a figure with honey-gold hair and rose-hued robes.

"Yes?" he replied, pleasantly enough.

 "I have something to tell you about Miss Evans..."

***

"Prongs, old friend!" an arm draped itself unceremoniously over James's shoulder and proceeded to nearly block his windpipe as it wrapped around his neck with a vise-like grip. James's eyes bulged out behind his glasses. "Having fun? And don't Lily look stunning?"

Sirius had been drinking more than usual, if the slurred words were to be taken as evidence of anything.

 "Geroff," gasped James, yanking Sirius's arm away from his throat so he could breathe. 

 "Whas yer proooblem?" Sirius laughed uproariously.

Without further ado, James reached behind and cuffed Sirius over the head soundly. Grabbing the collar of his friend's dress robes, he pulled in and very nearly yelled in his face.

 "WHAT DID YOU AND LILY TALK ABOUT?"

"Oh, is that what you're on about?" Sirius mumbled indistinctly, his cheeks flushed. His eyes were unfocused. "When did I talk to Lily?"

"At the office," James said through gritted teeth. "Last week, you sodding prat."

"Ohhhhh," Sirius said, leaning heavily on James's shoulder. "Oh, this and that. Mostly she just wanted to know about American hospitals and the like...since I'd just taken care of that case in Salem she asked me if I'd heard anything..."

James dropped Sirius like a piece of hot coal.

"OW!" Padfoot landed in a heap against the wall. "Not s'hard, James, not s'hard..."

"Sirius?" Morgan approached the friends with a concerned look. "Terrence wants a word with you in his study. It looks serious...he's got Lily in there, and he's talking about calling off this whole party..."

"Eh?" Sirius blinked slowly, cocking his head to the side.

James threw a glass of cold water in his friend's face. 

"What? What? What?" Sirius exclaimed, sober all at once.

"Terrence's study. Now." James waved to Morgan and propelled Sirius from the room.

***

Lily turned around from welcoming a small, balding wizard just in time to notice her father's retreating figure let itself out the door to the kitchens. She frowned slightly. Terrence was supposed to stay at _least_ until they'd had a chance to make a toast to him...

Just then she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around.

Morgan frowned down at her. "Your father wants to see you in his study."

Lily's head swiveled around quickly to face the door again.

 "It looks serious, Lily," Morgan warned. "You'd better go—I'll handle the party. I think Terrence said something about calling it off..."

 "Oh no...." Lily shoved her full glass into Morgan's chest and hurried off.

***

Terrence Carruthers could be an extremely blockheaded person when the mood took him.

By all appearances, the mood had taken him.

He wore a stony expression that practically screamed "I WILL NOT LISTEN TO REASON." Lily sighed tiredly before she had even found out what had happened. Shutting the door carefully behind her, she turned to him with a worried look on her face. Before she could say anything, Terrence began to speak.

"What's this I hear, Lily?" he growled. "This—this—this witch has just told me that YOU are PREGNANT." He indicated the corner behind him where Meghan stood leaning against a shelf. She had the grace to look a little embarrassed at Terrence's accusation but stood her ground nonetheless. "Why would anyone want to spread these sorts of lies about you?? Tell her she's been misled." He turned back towards Meghan. "And YOU! After today, you'd better start looking for another job. You're fired."

 "I'm not lying!!" shrieked Meghan, her face paling when she realized where this whole episode had landed her. "It's the truth! She asked Sirius Black to look up American hospital records for her! She used the fireplaces at work to call some of them!"

Lily's eyes had widened at first when the woman had begun speaking, and she had swayed slightly on her feet as though she were about to faint. Slowly she sank into a chair, took a deep breath, and squared her shoulders. Terrence had turned to her and she looked him directly in the eye. "I should have mentioned this before, I see. All right."

Sirius and James burst into the room just as Lily stated clearly: "I'm going on three months pregnant."

Carruthers visibly wilted from shock.

Sirius and James shrank back to the doorway.

Lily took another deep breath. "And for various reasons, the baby's father—"

"Is Sirius Black!!!" cried Meghan, pointing.

"WHAT?" at least three voices yelled. 

Sirius looked entirely shocked and turned to James. He began yelling in his friend's face. "ME??!?! Why me?!?!? It's not me!!!! All I did was look up hospitals for her!!!"

Lily continued mechanically, ignoring—or not noticing—all the outbursts. "I planned to go to America, without your knowledge, to have my baby, because I knew you'd—what are you doing???"

Terrence had pulled his wand from his pocket and was now brandishing it threateningly at Sirius, the Look of Doom on his face. "You—you—you!!! You planned to USE my daughter and ABANDON her in her time of need??? You HURT Lily????" He raised his wand—

Lily jumped in front of him just as James rushed over to grab Terrence's arms and hold him down.

"YOU'VE GOT IT ALL WRONG! HE'S NOT THE FATHER!" Lily yelled.

"THEN WHO IS IT?" Terrence yelled back.

Meghan was looking far too happy about the whole escapade.

"I CAN'T TELL YOU!" Lily sat back down, taking deep breaths rapidly. Her eyes were bright as she continued. "Even if no one helps me, I'm still going to have my baby. I'll do it by myself if I have to. I knew I would end up having a fight with you..."

Terrence turned to the doorway, which slammed shut quickly. "I know you're there, Morgan. Start calling hospitals for me right now." He faced Lily again. "You're going to have an abortion. You won't even tell me who the father is—that says to me that he's most likely married, with children of his own! It would be better for such a child not to be born—he'll be unlucky all his life!"

James drew a sharp intake of breath. Nobody heard him through the tension.

"NO!" yelled Lily, through tears now. "This isn't your choice to make, Terrence. It's mine! And I've decided to HAVE this baby!"

_"When I found out I was pregnant, I had a huge fight with my father—your grandfather. He turned me out of the house without a knut to my name. I had no one to turn to—I didn't have many close friends, and your father—well, he had his own family to worry about. At one point I thought that perhaps it wasn't worthwhile to live—I despaired of taking on this new life by myself. I was walking along the Thames, wondering what it would be like to just jump in and sink beneath the surface, and whether I really wanted to live so badly—when I felt you kick inside. It was the first time. And then I realized—well, maybe that's what the baby is trying to tell me—that he wants to live."_

_"It's so good to be alive...you've often had that thought, haven't you?"_

"Why is such a child born unlucky?" Lily was asking, not even bothering to wipe the tears that were streaming down her face. "Why doesn't he deserve to be born?" She was sobbing now, quietly. As she looked up her eyes caught with James's and held them for a long moment.

"Maybe," James said suddenly, his voice so low and articulate that it carried across the room. It sounded as though he was answering some unspoken question. He was no longer looking at Lily—his eyes were unclear. "Your baby—the one growing inside of you—maybe that baby is me...."

With a swift movement James went to stand in front of Lily and turned to face Terrence. The room was now completely silent.

"It's me," James said fiercely. "_I'm_ the father." He made eye contact with Terrence and held it. "_I'm_ the one responsible. Now that you know it, will you let Lily have the baby?"

Terrence had calmed considerably—he'd always had a soft spot for James. "James...if it's you...why did you have to hide it...?"

Lily began to interrupt. "James, you didn't have to—"

"Shut up," James muttered at her. "You want to have this baby, don't you?"

"But—"

Carruthers glared at James again. "Are you willing to marry her, young man?"

 "Yes!" James returned the look.

"What about you, Lily?" demanded Carruthers.

"Now wait a second, I—" She was cut off as James grasped her face in his hands and kissed her, hard. The sound of jaws dropping could be heard echoing off the walls.

 "Just say 'Yes,'" James whispered against her mouth. He opened his eyes to look straight into hers—emerald green swimming in tears. "We'll just go by your contract, all right? Just say 'Yes.'"

Very, very slowly, her eyes softened, and her eyelids fluttered down. "Yes," she sighed as she reached up to pull him closer to deepen the contact. "Yes!"

***

"And so the glad-you're-better party for Terrence turned into a congratulations party for you and Lily, eh," Sirius said later, collapsing onto the floor of James's flat.

 "Yea," James said noncommittally.

"Never thought you had it in you, Prongs," Sirius laughed slightly, before sighing. "Never thought you'd be the first of us to go."

James merely shrugged. He was remembering the way Lily had smiled at everyone as the toasts were offered. The girl was smooth—she looked like a perfectly happy bride-to-be. He really had to hand it to her for superb acting skills. No one would know that her "champagne" was actually apple cider.

"But wait, wait a second—" Sirius stood up and stared hard at his friend. "That would mean you'd have had to been going with Lily a lot longer than I'd thought...she's three months pregnant, almost? That means you'd have to have been with her since...oh...November? You were in France in November, Prongs!"

"Yea, yea I was," James said. _Shit._ "Extended business...there for two months last year..."

"Right, so...." Sirius looked extremely confused. "Weren't you involved with...what's her name? Cèline? She works for the French Ministry, doesn't she?"

 "She works for the French Ministry, yes, Cèline does," James agreed slowly.

"I thought you two had an on-again, off-again thing going!" Sirius exclaimed, pointing a finger accusingly at James. "James, you were NEVER the type to be doing two girls at once!!"

"Well, I'm not seeing Cèline anymore! We broke up back in France..."

"I should HOPE so!!! If Terrence found out about Cèline he'd have you castrated faster than you could say 'Merlin!'" Sirius was pacing the room now, talking to himself whilst rubbing his chin thoughtfully with one hand. "But Lily was in France around that time too if I recall...she went there to check out some underground groups that'd been practicing Dark Arts, or so I remember...and then she up and disappeared for a month. Terrence was practically ripping out his hair! But then she turned up back in England looking just fine, and that was it...so _that's _when you met, and you didn't tell me _anything_...."

Sirius suddenly turned to James with a scary gleam in his eye. "I never thought you had it in you, James! Way to go...and you were lecturing me about not using protection, honestly.... What were you _thinking_?"

James really couldn't come up with an answer to that.


	4. Chapter 4: A Lily Interlude

**Disclaimer & A/N: ** Not mine, not mine, not mine. Chiho Saito/J. K. Rowling. If you'd like to read the story I'm basing this off of, check out Chiho Saito's "Love Stories" comics, volumes 4 & 5. (4 for Cupid's Egg, 5 for Cupid's Night)

I know it's been a while…a long while…and actually, I wanted to write more for this chapter but I've decided to push certain things to Chapter 5. I'll try and post somewhat regularly before I take off for vacation at the end of July. I'm so sorry about the delay…it's been horribly busy. Okay, so that's not really an excuse. But I just haven't felt compelled to write anything of late (hated everything I wrote for a while there…I might decide to dislike this, too, in time). I wonder if anybody is still reading this? I must say, though, I really appreciated all the reviews during this expansive non-writing period. Without them, I probably would have just given up and let this fic join all the rest in incomplete-oblivion.

I wrote this from more of a Lily-perspective because…well, because I didn't want her to come off as a complete spoiled brat, which is what she seemed to be leaning toward in the first couple chapters. So, yes, hence the title.

I had always been planning to write a prequel for this (the original Chiho Saito story had a prequel), and so I started posting Cupid's Night because I was stumped for this chapter of Cupid's Egg. Dunno how anyone will react to its ending, but I liked the comic when I read it so….yeah. More later. :)

* * *

**Chapter 4: A Lily Interlude**

_The wedding is coming, the wedding is coming, the wedding is coming!!_

Lily found herself taken by pre-wedding jitters, if that was at all possible. She'd tried to think of the wedding as a business agreement but…who was she trying to fool?? She was getting married! She remembered the times she and Petunia would dress up in their mother's long skirts, weaving flowers from Mrs. Holcombe's garden into their hair. (Mrs. Holcombe, the cantankerous old woman next door, had chased them out of her yard.) Taking turns to catch the stolen bouquet (an old feather-duster Mrs. Holcombe had brandished at them, before they'd locked her in her own garage)…

She sighed with nostalgia; then groaned as she waded into her magically expanded wardrobe, which was a disgrace as far as organization went. The house-elves had been doing their job valiantly, but Lily had been searching for the past half hour for her robes and, thus, articles of clothing were now strewn every which way. _Where're my green robes??_

The Parkinsons' was to be the last engagement party she and James would attend before the wedding. Thank Merlin! She was getting sick of all of the events they had to attend—in part because of Terrence's place at the top of Defense and also in part because James was pureblooded heir to the Potter fortune—and could really do with a rest.

James had been given the promotion he'd wanted and deserved, which meant an increase in his workload; Terrence still hadn't completely recovered and was only working part-time, and insisted that Lily do the same because of her "condition," which meant that James had to take on a lot more than his fair share of work. Lately he'd been looking more tired than usual, Lily noticed, with a twinge of remorse. It was her fault…but what could she do?

Terrence insisted on keeping the pregnancy a secret until the wedding. Lily wasn't sure why, but chalked it up to more of Terrence's old-fashioned ideas. Luckily, her condition didn't show much what with her tall, slender frame and the miracles of slimming robe design. She hoped this would last at least until after the wedding—which was approaching in a couple weeks' time—or else she'd never fit into any of the new robes that had been purchased for the occasion.

Tonight, Lily had wanted to look her best (since they'd be attending a party at the Parkinsons'), but decided that would be setting her sights too high. She felt as though she had just been run over multiple times by a steam-roller. A number of highly ranked Ministry officials would be at the gathering, as well as certain members of the pureblood elite, including the Malfoys and Lestranges. Lily didn't know Bellatrix Lestrange or Narcissa Malfoy too well, but she'd seen them look down their noses at people often enough and didn't feel like being the one looked down upon, tonight.

"A-HA—ARGH!" She pulled out a set of slightly wrinkled, sea-green robes and crowed ecstatically to herself as she waved them in the air a few times. Then she choked from all the dust.

Sniffling a little, she cast a few charms to clean and straighten the wrinkles away. Slipping them on, she wondered vaguely when James would be arriving.

A small popping noise answered that question soon enough.

"Miss! Miss!" squeaked the house-elf, hopping from foot to foot in agitation. "James Potter is here, Miss!"

"All right," Lily called, casting a few more spells and giving herself a final once-over in the mirror. She looked all right. "Tell him I'm coming down."

Another pop, and the house-elf was gone.

Lily grabbed her wand and her handbag and left as well.

James was waiting for her at the foot of the stairs, running a hand absently through his hair. Lily took the moment to look him up and down and felt absurdly pleased to see him not only dressed so formally but also holding a pale cluster of starflowers in his hands. As she reached the bottom, he held them out to her, his mouth twisted into a familiar lopsided half-smile. Her heart skipped a beat as she took them, though she made sure her features were schooled into their usual polite expression.

"Thank you." She couldn't help smiling as she tucked a few into her hair.

James shrugged and looked away, and she turned so he could help her into her cloak. If she hadn't been so busy adjusting the cloak, she might have noticed him blushing slightly. The color deepened as she pinned a few on his robes, boutonniere-style.

They arrived at the Parkinsons' castle more or less on time and were divested of their cloaks and directed through the hall. The hum of voices and music could be heard and as they entered the room, Lily gasped slightly at the sight of hundreds of glowing lights floating about. On closer inspection, they turned out to be tiny creatures—fairies?—clothed in weak colored light and trapped within near-transparent bubbles made to levitate at random above the guests' heads. Many of them looked heavily sedated, while a select few seemed to be struggling to get out. Lily clutched James' arm in horror as she watched a nasty-looking house-elf materialize in a corner and prod at one of the bubbles with his finger…every prod seemed to cause the creature inside excruciating pain…

They shed a beautiful colored light on the room, though.

James put a hand over hers as he pulled her firmly into the room, and she was reassured somewhat by his warm, steady grip. The two of them were immediately pounced upon by the host and hostess, who had just been ingratiating themselves with the Malfoys, by the looks of it. Lucius and Narcissa looked as bored and haughty as ever, as they reclined on one side of the table. The barest inclination of heads to acknowledge James' presence; that was all they volunteered.

The music temporarily ceased as the guests took their places at the table; the usual congratulatory toasts were made and then everyone sat down to the meal.

Lily and James were seated by the Parkinsons, of course, and surrounded by a motley assortment of guests: the elderly Boneses, a tottering Mr. Whisp, a bulky Mr. Volkov, and the young Malfoy couple. The table stretched down the room and as the wizards and witches sat down, food appeared on their plates and wine in their goblets. Introductions were given and surreptitious glances at place-cards were cast; and as the courses progressed, the conversations began.

"Jolly good tofu," commented Mr. Whisp loudly to Mr. Volkov, who sat next to him. He wiped his bald head with a stiff white handkerchief as he took another large bite. "You'd never know it isn't meat. Excellent."

"Yes, vell done," agreed Mr. Volkov, although he knew it _was_ really meat, not tofu, and probably of some endangered species. Actually, it tasted like augurey to him. He had already inhaled a helping and was starting on a second, which had immediately appeared on his plate. A Beater needed his strength, after all, endangered species or no.

"I say," Mr. Whisp continued loudly. "Why isn't anyone talking?"

Mr. Whisp had been quite deaf for decades, but people respected him too much for his contribution to literature to ever complain. Several people at the table turned to look at him with raised eyebrows and the hum of conversation faltered.

Sensing social strife, Mrs. Parkinson rose to the occasion—literally as well as figuratively, her ample bosom swelling in its fabric—by casting a quick de-amplifying spell on Mr. Whisp.

"Well, then," she said with false cheer. Her pug nose wrinkled slightly in distaste. She turned to Lily, who was sitting on her right. "Are you enjoying the food, Miss Evans?"

"Yes, thank you," Lily managed demurely. A wave of sickness was washing over her at the sight and smell of the meat, and she barely managed to keep her expression neutral as she sipped her water. She suddenly felt very, very tired.

There was an awkward pause.

"And when are you expecting the new arrival?" asked Mrs. Bones, in an attempt to be friendly. Lily jumped and looked up, alarmed, before she realized that Mrs. Bones was talking to Narcissa Malfoy, who was very publicly pregnant in maternity robes of the latest design. Lily quickly looked around to see if anyone noticed her shock, but everyone's eyes were riveted on the Malfoys. She felt James' hand clasp hers reassuringly under the table, as though he knew what she was feeling, and looked up in surprise. He was drinking from his goblet and didn't make eye contact with her. All the same, she felt comforted, and took up her fork once more, giving his hand an answering squeeze.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Malfoy looked too affronted by Mrs. Bones' question to answer. Mr. Malfoy stepped in calmly, answering in barely civil tones, "If we had wanted to broadcast the date, Mrs. Bones, we would have made an announcement in the _Daily Prophet._"

Mrs. Bones, rebuked, turned back to her plate. Mr. Bones looked insulted and sputtered a few times before his wife put a restraining hand on his arm. He subsided but continued to throw the Malfoys some very dirty looks all through the rest of the meal.

Mr. Whisp had returned to his meat and was clumsily cutting it into tiny pieces. Volkov was still wolfing down his nth helping, but at a somewhat reduced rate. _How does he do that??_ wondered Lily, uncertain as to whether she should be appalled or amazed.

"Since we're speaking of the _Daily Prophet_," said Mr. Parkinson, a gleam of something in his eyes, "I saw a most…interesting…article the other day about Dark Force Defense. Seems there was another attack in Manchester but no one apprehended for it and no clues as to who could have done it."

"There have been rumors that the recent change in administration is to account for it," Mr. Malfoy stated, his cold gaze sweeping from Lily to James and back again. "I believe Mr. Potter has quite taken charge of affairs in the Defense league?" His eyes seemed to bore into Lily.

Lily, shocked, wasn't quite sure of what to say. "I—"

"If we wanted everyone to know about it, we would have posted a notice in the _Daily Prophet,_" said James wryly, touching his napkin to his lips. "I wasn't aware that the shuffling of administrative positions in Defense was something you concerned yourself with, Mr. Malfoy." His hazel eyes glimmered dangerously at both the Parkinsons and the Malfoys across the table. He took a sip from his goblet again, and Lily noticed that his hand was perfectly steady. She clasped his other hand under the table, wishing she could help somehow.

"Of course I'm concerned," Malfoy returned, a little sharply. "I have a family at risk here, as well. The Ministry is overtaxed as it is. If we cannot rest assured that we are safe in our beds at night, then I hold Defense responsible."

"You might still take your concerns to the Ministry, your influence certainly—" burst out Mr. Bones. He sputtered a few times, again, and Lily exchanged a sympathetic look with his wife.

"Ah, yes, your—family—" James went on as though Mr. Bones hadn't spoken, his eyes going mockingly to Narcissa Malfoy's abdomen and returned to Lucius' face. "—is at risk, you say. Excuse my directness and ignorance, but _who_, and _what_, exactly, do you believe your family is at risk _from_?"

Mrs. Bones gasped audibly before clamping a hand over her mouth. Even Volkov stopped guzzling his wine for half a second, glancing at James as though he'd just noticed his presence at the table, before returning to his food with a shrug.

Malfoy looked incensed, finally. But Mrs. Parkinson, not wanting a commotion at her home, once again interrupted a tense situation. "Is everyone ready for dessert?"

The plates were cleared abruptly and a variety of desserts appeared. Lily could feel the bile rising in her throat as she stared at the blanc mange. It was _quivering, _as though it were alive. Or was she imagining things?

"Did someone say something?" Mr. Whisp blinked confusedly.

"I vasn't done," complained Volkov, with a dark scowl.

"Pity," muttered James. He pulled his hand away from Lily's and took up his fork.

The rest of the meal went in smooth, if tense, silence.

Both of them were very quiet during the car-ride home. They had decided on Muggle conveyances for the time being, telling their friends they thought them quaint and romantic when actually Lily wasn't up to apparating and floo was out of the question in formal, or even semi-formal, attire.

James was leaning his head tiredly against the window as the car bumped down the streets. Lily took the moment to watch him unobserved as she mulled over the evening's events. She yawned silently and wondered at the intense look on his face as he had spoken, glad she had been with him and that she would be marrying him and not someone like Mr. Parkinson or even that strange Volkov character who had eaten about eight helpings. Of course, it was just a marriage in name; but all the same…

They said their goodnights quietly. Before James could apparate home, though, and before she ran up the stairs to her room, Lily looked him directly in the eyes, tugged his head down to her level, and kissed him softly. Before he could react, she let go and hurried away.

That night as she prepared for bed, she thought about everything that had happened in the past couple of months. Finding out she was pregnant, hearing the news of her baby's father's death, seeing James in the Leaky Cauldron.

_Incredible_, she thought, as she remembered his lopsided grin. _At least he didn't recognize me._

As she turned down the covers and got into bed, she was once again plagued by worries, as she had been since all of this had begun. Was she ready for this baby? And what about the threat of Voldemort? Defense had been receiving threatening letters again; she had rerouted most of the post directed to Curruthers' office to be delivered to their home so she could at least take correspondence off James' hands. The situation was escalating and she couldn't very well sit back and let things continue the way they were. What should she do?

But as Lily's eyes drifted shut and she felt herself fall under sleep's heavy hand, all she could really recall were pale clusters of starflowers, and the feeling of James' hand clasping hers under the table.


	5. Chapter 5: Wedding

**Disclaimer: The usual; Chiho Saito, J. K. Rowling, vols 4 & 5 blahblahblah. **

**A/N: So it took me longer than I thought to write this one, partly because I'm not really sure where I'm going with this (I have the bigger ideas down, but…), and partly because I was taken by this insane urge to try to make bits and pieces of this fit with canon. Which was STUPID, because this is an AU fic!! So yeah, gave THAT up. This is a bit shorter than previous chapters, I think, but…I'm tired. Anyway, will try to post again over the weekend.**

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**Chapter 5 – The Wedding, Wedding Party, and Awkward Wedding Night**

James felt as though he were in a trance.

"Now, let's offer our congratulations to the bride and groom, Mr. and Mrs. James Potter!"

There was a round of hearty applause, sparks flying in the air from people's wands and the repeated clinking of forks against glass. Sirius thumped James on the back a few times and posed, smiling, to take a picture with him and Lily.

"Ohhhhhh…" sobbed Terrence Carruthers, who was weeping profusely into a large kerchief on loan from Hagrid, who sat nearby with the Hogwarts professors. "She's so beautiful…ohhhhh, if only her parents could see her—" He went off into another series of wails.

"I can't believe _that's_ what's leading our defense force," Hestia Jones whispered to Marlene McKinnon. Marlene snorted into her champagne. Rita Skeeter, who had just managed to sneak past the extensive guard surrounding the premises (who knew how), smiled like a Cheshire cat as she took the seat across from them and scribbled something on a piece of paper.

Lily _was_ beautiful. The compromise between wizarding robes and muggle wedding gown that she had insisted upon had been bruited about in newspapers for weeks beforehand—"absolutely atrocious idea!" and "expect revolting results!" being the most encouraging remarks from journalists and stylists everywhere—but Lily had had her way, and the result was…well, people weren't quite sure _what_ it was, but the mass of filmy chiffon and wisps of lace, dainty embroidery and shimmering seed pearls couldn't have been lovelier, and the way Lily's green eyes and the jewels woven into her glowing tresses caught the light and sparkled were remarked upon favorably by every one of the guests at some point in the evening.

"Kiss her!" yelled an overexcited Professor Flitwick, before toppling off his chair. Next to him, Professor McGonagall was striking her fork against her champagne glass with a vigor that was delightfully strange to see.

"Better kiss her, mate," Sirius said, his voice still amplified by the Sonorus charm. "No peace until you do."

The sounds of clinking glass grew louder and more adamant, and James turned to the bride. She was pushing her veil back from her face and fanning herself lightly with a lace handkerchief. Their eyes met and she smiled, shrugged helplessly, and pulled his head down.

The kiss was gentle and brief. The background of cat-calls and applause seemed to fade out as their lips touched, then rush back as they separated, with a ferocity that made James' head whirl. It would seem Lily was experiencing the same feelings: as she pulled back, her eyes rolled back in her head and she stumbled backwards. James, Sirius, and Dorcas Meadows, one of the bridesmaids, were able to catch her—but just barely. She woke up right away and someone passed her a glass of water.

"What's happened?" Sirius asked worriedly, evidently forgetting that his voice was still magically amplified.

"Oh, nothing," James muttered.

"What?" Sirius called over the hubbub. He cast a quick Sonorus Charm on James right before he replied.

"I expect it's because of the baby," explained James, unaware of what Sirius had just done. His voice echoed through the large banquet hall and immediately there was a painful hush.

Carruthers, too preoccupied with gushing over Lily's surpassing beauty and crying into his napkin-handkerchief, did not hear James speak and hiccoughed loudly into the silence. Even Rita Skeeter was temporarily fazed.

There was a loud clatter from the back of the room and James looked up from his place (throttling Sirius with both hands) and saw—

—Wilkes, a smooth-talking man of not yet middle age, lean, with a sprinkling of gray about the temples. A notorious gambler, whose inhibitions decreased noticeably with alcohol imbibed or the scent of gold, usually both. James recognized him as a frequent presence in several wizards' clubs around London, always insinuating his way into groups of people and leaving when they had nothing left to offer him. He cultivated friends almost everywhere he went, and was an impressive informant when the mood—and need for funds—took him.

—Travers, with a square jaw and stocky build, ashy blonde hair in uncomfortable curls. There was always a sort of grim set to his jaw that made him look like he was ready for a fight, be it proper wizards' duel or barroom brawl. Elusive and seemingly reclusive, he could sometimes be seen lurking in dark corners, nursing drinks and giving off the odor of strong liquor. James recalled him in school, emerging from the shadows to defend a fellow Slytherin—it had been Bellatrix—from McGonagall's wrath. He was ready enough with alibis whenever someone needed one. That is, someone of his own group.

—Rosier, the youngest and best-looking of the three, with dark hair and striking blue eyes. He was the only son of a long line of pureblooded wizards and witches. Dressed impeccably and with faultless features, he was considered quite a catch among the pureblood elite, who could ignore his extravagant spending and rumored promiscuous tastes because of an ancestry that could be traced back at least _n_ generations. His family had offered generous donations to Ministry organizations and Defense in the past.

All three standing, mouths agape. Wilkes had dropped his champagne glass, which had fortunately remained intact but spilled champagne all over an irate Amelia Peasgood, who was sitting next to him. Travers had bitten off a large chunk of his pungent cigar, which he had been smoking blatantly much to the disgust of those in the vicinity. The ashes peppered his brilliant white jacket with ugly brown-black specks. Rosier's champagne glass had shattered in his grip, and now his fingers were dripping blood on the white tablecloth.

The three men looked thunderstruck and as the surprised murmurs rose about them, each slowly came to his senses and returned to his seat. Travers spat the rest of his cigar into a napkin and cleaned his jacket with a wave of his wand; Wilkes shrugged an apology to Amelia Peasgood and did a cleaning charm on her—a bit too strongly, it seemed, as her dress bleached white in certain spots; and Rosier belatedly noticed the blood on his hand and the table and took his time nonchalantly wiping it away and removing glass from his fingers. Their three sets of eyes narrowed at Lily, who was still sitting to the side and sipping from her glass of water.

James, still with a gentle smile on his face, kept an eye on them for the rest of the evening.

"Sorry about that," was the first thing Lily said when she and James finally arrived home and were safely ensconced in a dressing room. She was sitting in a chair, her shoes kicked off, her wedding gown billowing about her like a great white cloud. She had already taken the jewels out of her hair and removed most of her makeup. Her face looked pale and tired, her eyes large and childlike.

"About what?" James asked, undoing the top buttons of his shirt.

"My almost fainting like that," Lily said, absently pulling the pins from her hair. "I've been a bit out of sorts lately…tired, being pregnant and all that…"

"Yes, I know," James responded, sighing as he kicked off his own shoes, threw his jacket over a chair, and plopped into a sofa lined against one wall. "Don't worry about it."

They were both silent for a little while, as James rubbed his eyes under his glasses and Lily finished releasing her hair from pins.

"I'm also sorry…because…you've been working so hard lately, and I know Terrence hasn't been helping, and…what with my staying home so much…" Lily burst out, as she struggled with the tiny hooks on the back of her dress.

"Never mind," said James automatically, still rubbing his eyes. "I'd always wanted the promotion anyway. I can handle it."

"I know, but…" she sighed again, then got up and went to stand in front of the sofa with her back toward James. "Could you unhook me, please?"

James blinked a few times and finally noticed that Lily was standing in front of him, and that she was pointing to the row of miniscule hooks marching down her back in between rows of lace. He got up obediently and began unhooking methodically. Instead of holding the gown up as he thought she would, however, Lily simply let it slip down as James undid the clasps, and as he finished the last one the cloth whispered to the ground in a pile of white. She stepped out of it and bent to pick it up.

James was tired, but he couldn't help smirking at the sight of Lily clad only in a piece of thin silk and her underwear, bending over to retrieve her wedding garments from the floor.

She seemed oblivious to his scrutiny and yawned hugely as she hung her dress up in a closet and reached for a chaste white nightgown. It was something of a monstrosity, having frilly lace cuffs at the end of its long sleeves and a high, stiff lace collar. The gown trailed to the floor and even had several more inches of gaudy lace gracing its hem. Terrence had ordered it for her and she hadn't had the heart to tell him it looked to her like a torture device.

"I'm going to have a bath…you can use the bathroom through the door over there." She pointed vaguely at a door to James' left and exited through another door on his right.

James shook his head once or twice to clear it, then headed out.

Terrence had insisted on bringing Lily a "midnight snack" in bed while James took his time in the bathroom.

James came to the bedroom to find Lily propped up in bed, shrouded in stiff white cotton and lace, and being spoon-fed an ice cream sundae by her doting adoptive father.

"Stop it!" she was trying to shriek, as Terrence made strange zooming sounds and stuffed another mouthful of ice cream into her mouth. "Mmf mmmfnsspppfff!" She swallowed and shook her head at Terrence. "That's ENOUGH! I don't want to eat ice cream now!"

"But Lily," Terrence cried, still brandishing the spoon like a weapon. "It's your favorite! You've got to eat enough for you AND the baby!"

"I haven't got to eat ANYTHING if I'm not hungry!!" Lily cried, very exasperated.

"Funny, that's what my wife was always saying when she was pregnant with Alyssa," said Terrence fondly. His eyes brimmed suddenly with tears.

James snorted with laughter before he could stop himself and had to rapidly disguise it in a coughing fit.

"Well, James," said Terrence briskly, noticing his new son-in-law finally. He surreptitiously swiped at his eyes, then shoved the sundae and spoon into James' hands and smiled brightly. "Why don't YOU feed this to Lily! I bet she'd like that!" He grinned and winked, then kissed Lily on the cheek. "I'll be off to bed now. Good night, you two lovebirds!"

Lily made a strange choking sound as Terrence left.

James was staring, bemused, at the sundae and spoon in his hands. He quirked an eyebrow at Lily. "Are you sure you don't want any more?"

Lily grimaced. "That whipped cream makes me want to throw up."

He nodded. "I noticed you didn't eat any of the stuff on the wedding cake."

Lily looked up at him in surprise as he summoned the house-elf and bade it take the ice cream away.

"What?" asked James, as the house-elf disappeared.

"Nothing," she said, staring at the golden bedspread.

"All right," he said uncertainly. He cleared his throat. "Well. Er. Is there perhaps a guest bedroom I could sleep in, or—"

"Don't you think that would look suspicious?" asked Lily, smiling a little. "I mean, if Terrence should pop over in the morning, or even the house-elf, and find that I'm the only one here—"

"Hm. Yes, I see what you mean. So…"

"Okay, well—" Lily began, pushing the blankets away. "—I can sleep on the sofa, over there, and you can take the bed—" She made to go toward the huge sofa across from the bed, upholstered in a dull gold.

"Oh, no, you don't," James interrupted. "What kind of person do you think I am? I'm not going to let any woman, much less a _pregnant_ woman, kip on the sofa while I have a huge bed to myself. _I'll_ take the sofa, and _you_ take the bed."

"No, no, that wouldn't be right—" Lily protested, conjuring a blanket and rushing toward the sofa. "I'll take the sofa—"

"_Impedimenta_!" James cried, drawing his wand. He picked Lily up and unceremoniously dumped her on the bed. Fortunately, it was extremely soft. "And this is where you'll be staying, young lady. I'll be quite comfortable on the sofa…it's bigger than the bed I've got at my flat, anyway…just lend me a pillow…" He reached over Lily's shoulder to grab one of the pillows. She sighed, defeated (and too tired to fight), and shifted a bit so he could reach. She sat up too far, though, and as she settled back into the bed a bit of the lace ruffles around her neck got caught on James' glasses. As she fell back onto her pillow, James was pulled down as well, with his head resting against her chest.

He could hear her quiet breathing and her heartbeat, which seemed to be speeding up. She was soft and warm and smelled like soap and lilacs and ice cream. Unconsciously he rested his head against her and could feel his body relaxing, splayed out on the bed, on top of Lily. He could feel the contours of her body through that monstrous nightgown she was wearing. Warm fingers crept into his hair, and—

"Lily, I forgot to tell you that—OH!" Terrence had rushed into the room and stopped short, his round, bewhiskered face turning a bright tomato red. "Er, sorry for interrupting, I'll, uh, just be leaving you two—"

James had jumped up—leaving his glasses still hanging on Lily's nightgown—and was hugging a pillow defensively as he sputtered. "No! Terrence! It's not what you think! I mean, I was just getting a pil—"

Lily abruptly sat up and pulled James back down on top of her. "Good night, Terrence," she said sweetly.

"Good night," Terrence gasped as he quickly retreated and closed the door.

James, his face still buried in Lily's…ruffles, sighed warmly. "You smell so good—"

Lily shoved him away, blushing furiously, and untangled his glasses from her nightgown and handed them to him with averted eyes. James seemed to come to his senses and hurriedly went to the sofa, folding his glasses onto the table at one end. He plumped up the pillow and pulled the blankets snug around himself.

Lily extinguished the lights. She snuggled down into the warm covers and shut her eyes.

Neither of them slept very much or very well that night.


	6. Chapter 6: Rumors and Insinuations

**Disclaimer: Not mine, Chiho Saito/J.K. Rowling, yah?**

**A/N: Oh gosh, I've just typed this out and haven't really double-checked it for errors (too tired to notice them at this point, anyway). But I really want to post this tonight since I won't have time tomorrow. I really ought to reread this whole story to make sure all the bits and pieces fit together…anyway, yeah. Read & review please :)**

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**Chapter 6 – Rumors and Insinuations**

James was stopped several times in the office the next morning by people with congratulatory remarks and aghast exclamations of, "Why the hell are you in the office?! GO HOME TO YOUR WIFE!"

It wasn't that he wanted to be at the office…it was just that he'd forgotten something in his desk. His spare glasses, actually. That morning he'd been so startled by his new surroundings that he'd fallen out of the sofa, hit the table, and then smashed his glasses as he fumbled for them on the floor. Then he couldn't find his wand to repair them right away, and by the time Lily had come out of the shower, some of the pieces of glass had been ground to such an extent that she'd declared the glasses beyond repair.

He sighed. He had eaten a quiet breakfast with her before leaving. She'd been beautiful, as always, but that just seemed to make things even more awkward than they already were. They'd made plans for that afternoon to sit down and discuss some new leads Dumbledore had spoken to Terrence about earlier that week. At least they could still discuss things on the professional level without awkward pauses and averted glances, thought James. The thought didn't make him feel much better about anything. There was just something so—wrong—about this marriage. He'd never imagined that he would marry a girl as part of a business agreement! Or that any girl he would marry would be like Lily Evans…

He thought about his old ideals as he walked down Diagon Alley later. Between Gringott's and the apothecary, he was stopped again—twice.

The first time, a cloaked figure bumped shoulders with him as he walked down the road outside Flourish and Blott's. It had been odd, as the street wasn't busy and there was no need for crowding. He'd turned, startled, to apologize when the figure had pulled back his hood to reveal the dark hair and piercing eyes of Evan Rosier.

"Ah," had been all he could say. The apology froze on his lips. Rosier paused and appraised him silently for two seconds. Then, just as James was bristling with a rude remark, Rosier smiled coldly and leaned in.

"Are you really sure," he said softly, his beautiful features settling into a placid, smiling mask, "that _you're_ the father of Lily's baby?"

James' eyes widened. Before he could think of a reply, Rosier pulled his hood back up and continued on his way without a backward glance. He was met half-way down the street by a man with dark blonde hair that shimmered in the sunlight. Travers. He, too, was watching James with an indecipherable expression on his face.

James stood still, momentarily stunned, and then his brow furrowed. What would Rosier know about something like this? And he seemed to be familiar with Lily…they were on first-name terms, now, were they? Did they have a past that he didn't know about? Rosier had been a year behind James at Hogwarts, which would be a year above Lily. Or, wait, were he and Lily in the same year? And what about Travers? Travers was from the year above James'…surely he wouldn't have…? No, that couldn't be…

He continued down the street toward the apothecary's, a frown set on his face, and shoved his hands deep in his pockets. Could Rosier be the baby's father? Everyone knew about his promiscuity and prejudice against Muggle-borns. What if he'd gotten Lily pregnant and refused to marry her because she wasn't a pureblood? Lily certainly wouldn't be the only woman he dallied with. Was Lily too ashamed to admit that her baby's father was some whoring prettyboy who had undoubtedly fathered a number of other children without owning up to it?

James could feel his fists clenching and he slowed his pace as he neared the apothecary, taking a few deep breaths. Then again, James comforted himself, Lily could hardly have been stupid enough to get involved with Rosier. She could have nearly any man she wanted, wizard or muggle, from her vast acquaintance…why choose Rosier? She wouldn't have been so stupid.

Then again, James realized, Lily wasn't the type he'd have expected to end up with an unplanned pregnancy, either. Perhaps there was more to this than he thought…

The jingling of the bell above the apothecary's door made him come to his senses and he stepped aside as someone stepped out of the building. He waited for a few seconds, and when the figure still didn't move, he looked up.

It was the lean, cunning face of Wilkes above dark cloak and robes. He smirked and touched two fingers to his hat at James; then took a step down to the street so they were face to face. He looked James straight in the eye and said clearly, still smirking, "You look exhausted, Potter. Lily's quite demanding at night, isn't she? Ah, but then, she's pregnant now…" He laughed mockingly as he walked away.

_What was THAT supposed to mean??_ James turned to watch Wilkes slink down the street and disappear around the corner toward Knockturn. He remembered Wilkes, Travers, and Rosier all staring at Lily after he'd accidentally let slip about the pregnancy. Especially Rosier, who hadn't even noticed his mangled hand…

James bought the required herbs at the apothecary's and headed back home. Once he'd delivered his purchases to the house-elf, he shut himself in his new study to think things through. After an infuriating hour during which he still couldn't make anything of the situation, he realized there was only one thing he could do. He pitched a fistful of powder into the fireplace and summoned Sirius Black.

"Prongs, I'm surprised at you," said Sirius, stepping through the fireplace. He flung his leather jacket over the back of an armchair and raised an eyebrow at his best friend. "Second day of marriage and you're already ignoring your wife. What kind of husband are you?"

"Shut up and answer some questions for me," James said irritably, pacing the room. "What do you know about Rosier, Wilkes, and Travers?"

Sirius frowned. "What do you mean? The three of them…well, Rosier and Wilkes might be Death Eaters, despite Rosier's donations to noble causes and all that. We're currently investigating them…you, of all people, should know that!"

"No, no," James waved this impatiently aside. "What I mean is, do you know anything about them having a…past…with Lily?"

"A past with Lily?" Sirius' eyes widened. "She _wouldn't_!"

"That's what I'm trying to make certain of," James replied grimly.

"Well…let me think for a minute here…" Sirius looked away pensively. "I think Rosier and Lily might have dated…I remember hearing Hestia and Marlene talking about it…back in Hogwarts. Nothing serious, though. And Wilkes…well, I just don't know. But don't they all frequent the same sort of nightclubs? Aside from the 'purebloods-only' variety, I mean," he added hastily. "I do remember Lily having quite an active social life, if you know what I mean, prior to her leaving for France…actually, I remember her going to a lot of clubs and parties even after she came back…"

"All right," James grimaced. "I suppose that helps."

"What do you need to know this for, anyway?" Sirius asked suspiciously. "You don't think Lily'd have anything to do with those blokes now, do you?" He let out a bark of laughter and clapped James a few times on the back. "Her a pregnant woman and everything! Besides, she's so obviously in love with you…"

James nodded absent-mindedly and escorted Sirius out. They arranged to meet at a local pub in a week's time, along with Remus and Peter, and Sirius apparated away. James returned to his study, deep in thought.

Later that evening, after an afternoon of work and a pleasant dinner during which James and Lily actually had an interesting, non-hostile argument about Quidditch—James having been brought up a fan of Puddlemere United, while Lily argued that the Montrose Magpies were a _far_ better team—James walked into the bedroom to find Lily just slipping on some shoes to match her black, skimpy robes.

She looked up when he came in and smiled. "Ah, James—I was just about to go look for you. You can have the bed tonight—I'm going out for a party and probably won't be back until early in the morning."

"A _party_?!" exclaimed James, shocked. "You're leaving the second night we're married to go to a party, _pregnant_ and _alone_?!?!"

"Yeh, looks like it," Lily grinned as she picked up her handbag and wand from the table. She walked up to James and pecked him on one corner of his mouth, then winked. "You ought to go out and have some fun, too, James. It's written into our agreement and everything. Ta!"

_Going out?!?!?! Partying?!?!?! _James' mind shrieked, as Lily apparated away. _With Rosier, Wilkes, and Travers?_

But she'd said—it was written into the agreement. James summoned the parchment from his personal dressing room and scanned its contents. Yes, there it was—"is allowed full freedom to indulge in whatever social activities he or she desires, with discretion." Perhaps he ought to follow her. What if she—

James shook his head suddenly. No. If this was the way Lily wanted it, then so be it. After all, it was only a marriage in name. He was under no obligation to feel responsible for her actions and if she wanted to ruin her health and that of her baby's, it was her choice. She was an adult; she would take care of herself. He set his jaw and went back to the study to finish some files.

Early the next morning, James came out of the shower in his robe to find Lily curled up on the sofa, fast asleep. She hadn't bothered to change out of her robes from the night before, but her hair was down in curls around her shoulders and her face was pale and free of makeup. She must have stumbled in while he was in the shower, James mused, and simply tumbled onto the first soft surface she could find. He hadn't slept in the bed the night before, preferring to stay with the sofa (it didn't make much of a difference to him anyway), but Lily must not have noticed. She was cuddled into the blankets James had just recently abandoned, and her breathing was deep and regular. James paused to watch her sleep.

Lily shifted, making a small sound as she tried to adjust the pillow against the arm of the sofa. James sighed, then gently slipped his arms beneath her and lifted. He carried Lily to the bed and tucked her in, pulling the coverlet up to her chin and smoothing her hair over the pillows. She mumbled something in her sleep and smiled slightly, clutching the blankets closer.

He remained bent over her for a few moments, just watching her sleep. Her face, though pale, looked young and childlike; her long lashes curled darkly against her cheeks and her lips, slightly parted, were full and pink. He wondered at the innocent expression on her face and hoped fervently that she knew what she was doing. She heaved a sigh in her sleep and turned to lie on her back. As the light hit her face, James noticed the slight swelling under her eyes…she looked exhausted.

_"Lily's quite demanding at night, isn't she?"_ Wilkes' voice echoed suddenly in James' mind.

He must have shuddered involuntarily; Lily's eyes slowly flickered open, and James noticed just in time to take a quick step away from the bed before she could get them all the way open and focused.

She pushed herself up on her arms, blinking sleepily in the light. "Wha—" Her voice was rough, heavy with sleep. She cleared her throat and began again. "What am I doing here? In bed?"

James turned away swiftly and looked elsewhere, half-hiding his head in a towel as he rubbed his wet hair. "Don't sleep on the sofa," he said, his voice brusque. "If Terrence were to find out I let you sleep on the sofa he'd have me beaten within an inch of my life."

Lily's eyes widened at James' tone. She sat up and slowly got out of bed, running her fingers through her hair as it cascaded down her back. "Oh, yes, that's right…Terrence _would_ blame you…and I said I would prevent that, in the agreement…"

James rushed on, heedless of anything she was saying. "And don't you think you're overdoing this partying thing at night??"

Lily turned to him with a start.

James was staring at a wall as he continued. "It's bad for the baby, but I guess you don't care enough about that to stop. Why do you have to go out…is it because you have to spend every night with the baby's father?"

Immediately Lily's eyes flashed and she turned to shout at James. "How could you say something like that?!"

"Don't try to hide it, Lily!" James shouted back, throwing his towel on the ground in disgust. "Who's the father? I know it's one of those three!"

"'Those three'?? What are you talking about, you idiot?!"

"THE THREE OF YOUR BOYFRIENDS YOU HAD COME TO THE WEDDING, JUST TO MAKE A FOOL OUT OF ME!" yelled James, fully irate and completely losing control. A few picture frames fell off their places on the walls. He took a deep breath. "Travers—he's already married, bet you didn't know that, did you? Wilkes is a smooth talker but catch him keeping friends that aren't able to give him anything more material in return for his friendship! He wouldn't want a baby, wouldn't know what to do with it! And Rosier—he's got a pretty face, but he's leagues into debt now, though most people don't know that yet, and he's a complete whore! Not to mention that all three of them, excepting maybe Travers but we're not so sure…are under investigation because they might be Death Eaters!"

James spun to face Lily with blazing eyes. "Terrence wouldn't approve of any of them, oh no! Which is why you had to pick ME to play the part of ideal husband and father, isn't it! Well, just say it, then! Who's the real father of the baby?!"

Lily's head was bent. In three rapid strides, James was standing in front of her and had tilted her chin up. He drew a sharp breath and almost took a step backwards when he saw her face.

Instead of anger or defeat, there was a sad, desperate look on her flushed face and tears were falling silently from her eyes.

James didn't know what to do, but he suddenly felt ashamed and doubtful. He could be mistaken, and he had jumped to conclusions and accused Lily of—

"You've forgotten," she whispered. "It was part of the agreement that you never ask about the baby's father." James could feel his face burning. He'd let himself get carried away with his conjectures and frustration. What had happened to all his resolve to let Lily do whatever she wanted in peace, as long as she didn't cause a commotion? They had just gotten to be…well, if not friends, then almost friends…and now—now he'd ruined it all.

Lily spun away and ran from the room.


	7. Chapter 7: Skirmish

Disclaimer: Chiho Saito, J. K. Rowling. Not mine. Please read the previous disclaimers for further references.

A/N: A litttttlle longer than usual. I might not be able to update tomorrow (today), as I start working. Also--there might be more errors in this chapter, since...yeah, I really don't give myself much time to reread and correct anymore. Anyway. Reviewers, I love you. One of these days I am going to write long, involved thank-you emails. Till then, know that I'm reading your comments and smiling. :)

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**Chapter 7 - Skirmish**

"James," Terrence called, entering the master suite one evening.

James was just unbuttoning his robes tiredly, ready to crash into bed—or, well, to the sofa. Same thing. He turned at the sound of Terrence's voice.

"Something wrong, Terrence?"

Terrence glanced around the room. "Where's Lily?"

James sighed and turned back to unbuttoning his robes. "Out."

Terrence let out a sound similar to a growl. "Why aren't you out with her??" He stomped across the room and put his hands on his hips. "She's been out every night for the past week! Don't think I haven't noticed. Lily's _pregnant_ with YOUR baby! Why aren't you out taking care of her? She shouldn't be out in the first place! Why don't you talk to her about staying home? You ought to make her stay here and rest. You should—"

James turned suddenly and slammed his fist on the bureau. "As if she'd listen to me!" he exploded. "You could CHAIN her in this room and she'd still find a way out!! Lily won't fucking listen to anyone because she's a spoiled little princess!"

Taken aback by James' outburst, Terrence jumped and his face turned a brilliant shade of magenta. As James paused to take a breath, Terrence found his voice. "Now just a minute! You don't—"

"Never mind, Terrence," James said, his shoulders slumping. "Forget what I just said. Forget it. I didn't mean it." He stood still for a second, then seemed to come to some sort of decision. He began buttoning his robes back up again.

"All right, but—wait, James, where are you going??"

James grabbed his wand and a crumpled bit of parchment from the table and took off running out the door. "I'm going out!" he called back over his shoulder, just before apparating away.

"Not you, too," moaned Terrence.

"Hello, gentlemen," smiled Lily. "Let's have a nice talk, shall we?"

She felt tired and she was sure her feet were probably swelling in those stupid pumps she'd decided to wear at the last minute. A hairpin in her updo was jabbing her scalp rather painfully. She was getting SO sick of dealing with these "gentlemen." She wished they would just go away and leave her alone. Alone with a dish of caviar and olives in tartar sauce. Mmm…that sounded good right now...

Shaking her head free of food fantasies, she managed to smile sweetly and indicate that the three men before her should enter the room first.

They were at the VIP lounge of The Aethonon, an upscale club patronized by the more well-to-do members of the magical community. It was a good place to go to meet people, but the drinks were ridiculously expensive and the price of reserving a room like the VIP lounge was probably equivalent to some people's annual salary.

Rosier lifted a perfect eyebrow at Lily as he entered the room behind Wilkes and Travers. She merely smirked back at him as she nudged him further in and turned to the attendant who stood in the shadows near the doorway. "We'll ring if we want something. Don't let us be disturbed." The boy nodded and flitted away. Lily entered the room and shut the door behind her.

Travers was already smoking again, as he leaned against the wall opposite the door. Wilkes had settled down on one of the sofas. Rosier stood just inside the door, watching Lily with a knowing look on his face as he leaned far too close to her for comfort. She ignored him and took a seat gracefully in one of the stiff-backed chairs by the table.

"So what's the real reason behind your calling us out here every night?" asked Wilkes, smiling. His eyes were glittering faintly in the dim candlelight. "Tired of Potter already, are you?"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, boys," Lily said calmly, her lips curving up into a sultry smile. "Why can't I invite some old friends out for a good time if I want to? Doesn't mean I don't like my husband."

"Don't give us that line now, Lily," Wilkes said, grinning nastily as he winked at Rosier. "We all know that you invited us out for something different. Reheating old soup, hey?"

"How about it, Lily?" Rosier touched a finger to her cheek, running it from just below her eye to the low point of her chin. Lily barely suppressed a shudder—and it wasn't one of delight.

As his finger dipped lower, drifting past her collarbones, she decided she'd had enough. _Fuck it._ She stood up suddenly, avoiding Rosier's hand. "All right," she said, her voice hard. "I don't need any more from you three, anyway."

Travers threw his cigar away and strode toward her, his face expressionless. Lily took an involuntary step backwards and found herself backed into the table. Her fingers twitched toward the wand she kept in her pocket and she set her jaw.

"As you so kindly stated for me before, Wilkes," she said, looking at that man, who was standing slowly, "I've had you three meet me here every night for a week. We had a few drinks, went to a few other clubs where we danced, chatted like old friends.

"I've got a history with each of you—whether it was some sort of teenage crush," she nodded to Rosier, "or some friendly business dealings," her eyes rose to meet Wilkes', "or a chance acquaintance in a pub here and there." Travers gazed at her, unblinking.

"But the real reason behind all this time spent together was this," Lily said, pulling a tiny piece of crystal from her pocket.

"A sound stone?" Rosier said softly, gazing at the tiny facets.

"Yes. And lots more like it, lodged into the walls and floors and ceilings of every place we've sat and talked about our lives and what we do in our spare time…_especially_ those parts when each of you mentioned muggle baiting, or conjuring the Dark Mark, or anything else having to do with Vold—"

Rosier made a mad swipe with one hand in an effort to capture the sound stone she held.

"Oh, no, no," said Lily, dancing out of the way. Her eyes were sparkling now and she could almost will away the pain of the hairpin pricking her head and the tight shoes in her glee. "This isn't for you. I'm taking this with me, for Carruthers' listening pleasure. Besides, you'd have to destroy each and every sound stone I've got of the conversations we've had—and believe me, that would take a longer time than you've got at your disposal. You see, boys, I was never planning to betray Carruthers and Defense to you and your master. I'm surprised you were taken in, even for a moment."

"You—you—" sputtered Wilkes angrily. "You mudblood bitch!" He let loose in a further stream of distinct, intense profanity.

"How unoriginal," she sneered at Wilkes. "'Reheating old soup'? What old soup?! We never had a relationship that I can recall! A few dances and drinks hardly qualifies us as lovers!"

She turned to Rosier. "And I'd have to be _completely _out of my mind to have another fling with you. I have it on good authority, Evan, that you've been none too careful about choosing bed-partners, and…well, it might be good to go to St. Mungo's instead of making your own potions and trying to heal yourself…" she glanced witheringly down at the juncture of his thighs in the tight trousers and wrinkled her nose. Rosier flushed and his eyes narrowed to dangerous slits.

"As for you, Travers…don't think I never noticed all those draughts you tried to slip into my drinks, and the way you kept trying to look down or up my robes whenever I met you." She tossed her hair. "I don't think your wife would like that, if she knew."

The three men all made moves for their wands; but Lily beat them to it. She had her wand out in a flash and summoned all of theirs. "Oh, no, you don't," she said triumphantly. "I'm going to leave now, my friends. I shall lock the door after me and leave your wands at the front desk. But only AFTER I call in the Aurors."

She headed for the door, exultant. It had gone off without a hitch! Oh, wouldn't Terrence be pleased!

Just then, a rasped, "Expelliarmus!" threw her off-balance. Her mind let loose a million alarm bells.

"You didn't think I'd only brought one wand, now, did you, Lily?" chuckled a low voice beside her face.

"I'm sorry, sir, but the party you seek is not here."

James sighed as he was turned away from yet another club without Lily. Where could she be?! He'd done a little more background research and found a list of clubs and lounges that Lily used to frequent. He'd already visited…oh, he couldn't even keep proper count anymore…had it been six? seven? clubs that night…with no luck.

He was just turning away when a young girl stepped out from one of the side doors of the building. "Wait, sir! Please!"

He stopped and turned back. She couldn't have been more than sixteen years old, and her pale face was strained from overwork. "Oh, please, sir, I think I know who you've been looking for! But they're not at Dai Chimaera tonight. I heard the young lady say yesterday that they meant to meet at The Aethonon at about nine o'clock this evening. You might catch them there, if you hurry."

Just as quickly as she had appeared, she was gone. James frowned in concentration. The Aethonon. Where had he heard that name before?

Then he remembered: Sirius had mentioned it—as the two of them searched for possible locales Lily might be visiting—as one of the most expensive clubs in Britain. Posh and elegant, it didn't offer a bar or a dance floor like some of the other trendy clubs did when trying to attract young wizards and witches. Instead, it was known for its discretion and its private lounges for intimate parties.

Wait a second there…_ 'private lounges'?? Intimate parties???_

As soon as he could clearly recall the address of The Aethonon, James apparated away with a loud pop.

Lily struggled as hard as she could, within reason. It was no use. Three men to one pregnant woman was no fair competition; in minutes, they had her silenced and tied up with invisible cords, lying on the sofa. Lily knew her underwear was showing and it made her even more furious than she already was.

"My, my, Lily," Rosier chuckled dryly. He tugged on the lace that was showing at the top of her thigh. "Feeling a bit racy today?"

"So, Lily," Wilkes said, his mouth curving into a grotesque smile. "You were going to use the sound stones as evidence to betray us to the authorities, were you? And you thought we would fall unsuspectingly into your trap, and be sent to Azkaban without a hitch?"

"Oh, Lily," laughed Rosier. He nudged Travers, who was smirking at her in his usual silent manner. "You really are living in your own private world of fantasies. You're deluding yourself…about everything!"

"For example," Travers finally spoke out. "Your pregnancy…you'll be about four months into it, by now? I believe that's what Carruthers said, in the Rita Skeeter article?" Lily made a feeble sound of protest.

"It _is_ hard to tell," Wilkes said, twirling his wand idly in one hand. "You've kept your figure remarkably well, my dear."

"Four months ago," continued Travers, pushing Lily's hair away from her face, "you were here, or at clubs, every day—drinking and living it up with all of us. Then you disappeared off to France…came back, never showed your face at any of our old haunts, and suddenly up and married that stupid Potter…"

"We wondered, when we first heard the news that you were pregnant," added Wilkes, "whether the baby might not have been one of ours?"

Rosier laughed. "It certainly wasn't Potter's. You hardly knew him, even at Hogwarts."

"I wonder how your precious husband would feel, if he saw pictures of his wife and the three of us in some…compromising…positions, here in this club, published in tomorrow's _Daily Prophet_?" Wilkes was grinning maniacally. "How would Carruthers feel? And could the wizarding community accept you as a leading member of Defense if it came out that you consorted so much with Death Eaters?"

"It would be pretty hard to defend your innocence to Crouch, under those circumstances," stated Travers.

"So we think you'd better hand over all those stones…and then we'll give you a healthy dose of memory charms, before having a little more fun with you before we take those pictures…" Rosier tugged at the fastenings of Lily's robes.

"I'm sorry, sir, but only members are allowed into the VIP suites," said the attendant at the door, not sounding apologetic at all.

"I'm looking for my wife," said James calmly. "You ought to know her—Lily Evans. Did she come here, with two or three men?"

"I'm sorry, sir," repeated the attendant, rolling his eyes. "I simply can't—"

James shoved the key to a Gringotts vault into the man's hand. The man broke off and stared at the key for a few seconds.

"Well," he cleared his throat. "Right this way, sir."

They walked up some stairs, then down a dark corridor. "This room," the man said, pointing.

"Thank you," said James, quickly taking down any silencing charms cast around it.

"I'LL NEVER GIVE YOU THE STONES!!! YOU'LL NEVER GET AWAY WITH THIS!"

"Shut her up! Get your wand and put a silencing charm on her again!"

"YOU'LL BE PUT IN AZKABAN TO ROT FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIVES! DON'T TOUCH ME, YOU PIECE OF FILTH! YOU—" Lily's voice screamed loudly, before getting abruptly cut off by a silencing charm.

James turned to the attendant abruptly. "Perhaps you ought to call the Ministry. We might need some…help…here."

The man nodded and hurried away.

Taking a deep breath, James unlocked the door and slammed it open.

Travers was holding Lily's legs down as Rosier pulled at the top of her robes. Wilkes was searching through Lily's handbag. They all looked up as James rushed into the room.

"YOU—" began James, his face stiffening.

"So the hero enters the scene to save the damsel in distress," laughed Wilkes. "Well, Potter, we have some problems with your lovely wife, here."

Lily's furious eyes were blinking rapidly up at James from the sofa and her lips moved silently.

"You see," Wilkes continued, "she's asked us to meet her at clubs every night for the past week, saying that it was just some fun with friends, telling us that she would betray Defense and bring information to our master's side…said Defense wasn't giving her the 'scope' she needed for her talents. It turns out, though, that she was actually betraying _us_…quite clever, wasn't she?"

"She tricked you, too, didn't she?" said Rosier, leering as he stroked Lily's face and chest.

James could feel the fury building up inside of him, and let it all out as he exploded into action. He'd thrown himself at the closest figure—Wilkes—and knocked him down, kneeing him savagely in the crotch and seizing his wand. Then, as Travers paused to make sure Wilkes was out of the way, James disarmed him and blasted him across the room. He hit the wall with a resounding crack.

Rosier cast _Crucio_, but James dodged just in time, catching just the barest hint of it and yelling before steadying himself and casting _Conjuctivitus_ and _Petrificus_ in rapid succession. Rosier fell over, stiff as a board.

"If I EVER catch ANY of you within 15 meters of my wife and child, I'll RIP YOU APART!!" James shouted. Lily was watching him from her place on the sofa, a look of complete shock on her face.

James set about taking the random spells from her and helping her up. "I can't believe you," James scolded, frowning deeply. "You just thought you could handle this on your own…never telling anyone what you were up to? There were _three _of them! No matter how much better at dueling you think you are, three against one is not the sort of situation you want to put yourself in!"

Lily sat up, refastening her robes. "But—"

"No 'buts'!" James said sharply, tying her hair back for her. It fell out again immediately. "Do you know how worried I was?!? I couldn't find you anywhere…tried seven different clubs first, with no luck…couldn't have faced myself if I'd gone home without knowing you and the baby were safe…"

James continued muttering to himself as he repaired the furniture he'd broken in the scuffle with Wilkes.

Lily simply stood and watched him, her eyes filling with tears. She wasn't sure whether she ought to laugh or cry—and James had stopped, and turned to watch her, with such an intense expression on his face—

A fist struck James across the face. Wilkes was up again and heading toward Lily; Travers was shaking his head slowly in his position on the floor across the room.

As Wilkes reached the spot two feet in front of her, Lily went into action. She grabbed something from inside her robes and pushed it into Wilkes' face. A fine mist sprayed out and Wilkes reeled back, yelping in pain. Lily plucked her wand from his pocket and took off running, grabbing James' hand on the way out of the room and dragging him with her. She slammed and locked the door behind them and they took off running as fast as they could.

"What _was_ that?" James finally asked, after they'd reported everything to the Aurors and Ministry workers and were on their way home in the Knight Bus. Wilkes, Travers, and Rosier had all gotten away before the Aurors could get to the scene, but the information Lily had gathered was going to be _very_ helpful in their files. "That stuff you threw in Wilkes' face?"

"Oh, that," Lily suddenly laughed. It was a beautiful sound. "That was pepper spray. Muggle thing."

"Oh," James said.

They were silent for a while, as the bus passed bumpily through the streets and lights flashed past the windows.

James sank back into a bed. "I can't believe it…this whole time, you were collecting information to pin the three of them as Death Eaters." He sighed deeply and closed his eyes, putting his hands over his face tiredly. "And I thought that you were just out having a good time…fooling around with random men…being completely irresponsible…" He shook his head. "I feel like such a fool."

"You weren't," Lily said passionately. She sat down next to him on the bed and took his hand from his face. "You were wonderful. If you hadn't come along, I don't know what would have happened to me…" She seemed to notice that her voice was wavering, and turned away quickly. "I mean, I could have handled the situation if I didn't have to worry about the baby…I was afraid that if I struggled too hard at once, something would happen…and I was trying to buy time to think of a better way out…" She shuddered and shook her head. "No, I wouldn't have escaped without getting seriously hurt, if you hadn't come…when I saw your face, when you burst into the room like that, I…I was so happy…"

James had been watching her during her whole speech. As her voice faded, he averted his eyes and slowly brought her hand to his face.

"I…I think I was jealous, to start with," he said softly, reluctantly. "To think of you…with any other man. Somehow…the idea just wasn't right. I…couldn't take it any longer…I had to try to find out who the baby's father really is…that's why I tried so hard to research, and that's why I asked you that night…even though I knew it was violated our agreement…"

"I'm sorry," he whispered, as he leaned his head against her, his eyes half shut.

It was Lily's turn to look away. "Well, it wasn't any of them, anyway. Rest assured on that point; no way in hell would I have a child by any of those men."

"That's what _I_ thought!" cried James, sitting up excitedly. He grabbed Lily's hand in his, his other hand grasping her shoulder. "I knew you'd NEVER do anything like—like THAT with any of them!"

They were face to face, in a deserted tier of the Knight Bus. James' eyes widened, then slowly closed as he leaned in.

"Wait, James—" murmured Lily, half-heartedly.

"It's all right," whispered James. "It's all right. This is real, right now, this moment…this is real…"

Their eyes fluttered shut and they both leaned in, giving up all thought and concentrating on their lips and hands. It was slow, sensuous. James stroked the soft skin of her cheek, her neck, her shoulder with his lips, tongue, and fingers. He could feel Lily kissing him back, her fingers in his hair, on his neck, down his back. He tried to savor the moment, drinking in every feeling it was awakening deep inside of him…

They broke apart slowly, finding themselves out of breath and lying face to face on one of the beds. Just as they were reaching for each other again, the Knight Bus jerked mightily and knocked both of them to the ground.

By the time they had picked themselves up and restored things to rights, the moment was gone. They got off at their stop and slowly went home and went to bed without saying much more to each other.


	8. Chapter 8: Love

**Disclaimer**: Ain't mine. Chiho Saito, J.K.Rowling.  
**A/N**: So…this is almost twice as long as my normal chapter length, which I hope sort of excuses its lateness. ;) I've been really busy this week with a temporary job and visitors at home, both of which have totally sapped my energy. Hopefully updates will come more frequently after this…the story is almost over, I think. (I might be able to finish in another chapter or two...and then, oh dear, have to finish Cupid's Night.)

This chapter seemed to veer pretty far over the corniness/melodrama/sappiness line, especially at the end, so the chapter title seemed to fit. Um, yes…too tired to edit tonight, will simply post and wait for comments. Laaater!

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**Chapter 8 – Love**

"I've always—loved you," she whispered.

Her skin was so warm and her fingers were light on his back. He could feel her heartbeat against his chest. Her hair fell around them in soft waves, and as he pulled her closer and closed his eyes, she snuggled into his shoulder.

"Always," she said, pulling back slightly to look him full in the face.

He met her gaze and started, losing himself in Lily's beautiful green eyes. _Lily??_

He leaned in to kiss her, and—

_THUMP._

James woke up flat on his back on the floor next to the sofa, his blankets tangled about his legs. He sat up quickly and looked over at the bed. It was empty.

_It was all a dream?!_

He closed his eyes and leaned against the sofa. _I can't believe that was a dream…it felt so real. Her warmth, the softness of her skin, the scent of her hair…holding her so close…_

While James was lost in his little fantasy, Lily came back from having a shower. She was wrapped in a voluminous white bathrobe, with a towel wound around her hair.

"James, you can use the bathroom now," she said without looking at him, as she walked past the sofa.

He caught the edge of her robe as she passed and pulled her into his lap, burying his face in her neck. "Lily…"

Her face flushed deeply…and then she felt…was that…??

_Smack._

"What's wrong with you? Were you having a kinky dream?!" shrieked Lily, as she walked off, leaving James to nurse the red handprint across his cheek.

"You know, James," she called over her shoulder, as though in an afterthought, "I think you're suffering from withdrawal."

_Withdrawal?__ Withdrawal?!?!?!?_ James flushed darkly and rubbed his face.

So. Even though they had been married for a few weeks already, and even though they had gone through various things together—not least of which was that incident with Travers, Rosier, and Wilkes at The Aethonon, after which they had shared some significant moments and (in James' opinion at least) a mind-blowing kiss—there was still some sort of barrier between them…some sort of tension, mostly on Lily's side of things.

Later, as James watched her from across the breakfast table, his chin propped in his hand, he freely admitted to himself that he was in love with her. There seemed to be, in his mind, a whole collection of moments, memories, and images dedicated solely to Lily, to things that he loved about her...the way she tilted her head when she laughed…the way she would lean over her parchment with that one curl of hair falling over her forehead…the way her eyes flashed when she lost her temper, when she was righteously indignant about some injustice…that sweet, funny little smile that was only teased onto her face when she was particularly touched…

_It's too late--I'm hopeless,_ he thought. _I'm completely in love with her…can't imagine being with anyone else._

"James, you ought to get going…" Lily's voice trailed off as she noticed what he was doing.

"Your tea! Your tea!" she cried, pointing.

"Huh?" asked James, still staring at her, his eyes half-glazed over.

He had been pouring tea into his cup when he'd started watching her a minute…or so…ago. And it was still pouring. The cup had overflowed and the tea was spreading in a pool on the table and trickling down to the floor in a steady stream.

"AGH!" shouted James, as he noticed that his trousers were completely sodden.

Terrence, who was breakfasting with them that day, chortled. "Haha! He was so entranced with watching you that he forgot about his tea!"

"Sorry, I'm going now…" mumbled James incoherently, as he cleaned things up with a few quick spells and took off running.

"He's completely besotted with you," Terrence said, immensely pleased, as Lily watched James go with an extra redness to her cheeks and a confused expression in her eyes.

"Nonsense," she said, and left the table.

"James!"

James turned from his desk, where he'd just collected his files and taken his wand out in preparation for apparating to Defense headquarters.

Lily came fully into the room. She looked distinctly uncomfortable. "Um…well,…I just wanted to say…Have a good day at work."

James nodded at her, an eyebrow raised.

"And…" she kept her eyes glued to her feet. "I think you should really see other women, James. I don't want you to feel constrained by this fake marriage…I want you to feel completely free. After all, that's what we'd agreed initially…in the contract…"

If she'd been looking up, she might have noticed the stiffening of James' features. As it was, she heard his harsh tone of voice when he replied, and started guiltily.

"The contract, eh…" was all he said, before he apparated away with a loud crack.

"James…?" Lily stared at the space he'd just occupied, frowning. She was about to move toward it when instead, she covered her mouth with her hand and rushed from the room.

"The French Ministry of Magic is sending an ambassador to negotiate with ours for French Auror support. The British Ministry is requesting that Defense set up an extra measure of protection for her. Potter, will you be available to escort the ambassador from their designated safe apparition point?"

"Eh?" James looked up from his immense piles of paperwork and blinked rapidly at the figure standing in front of his desk.

"Can you escort the French ambassador from the safe apparition point?" Morgan leaned against the wall and smiled at James. "Sorry, I know you're busy."

"Oh, sure, sure…" James nodded distractedly and returned to his work.

"Good. She'll arrive in two hours at the Golden Phoenix."

"All right." James waved Morgan away.

An hour and fifty-five minutes later, James stood in front of the Golden Phoenix, glancing from time to time at his watch. He was wishing he hadn't left the office early to come to meet this French wizard. He could have finished his paperwork in the time he'd been waiting thus far, and after he left the ambassador safely guarded in one of the Phoenix's best suites, he could have gone home to Lily…

Fully occupied with thoughts of home and wife, James didn't notice the distinct popping sound of apparition, or the cry of surprise from the witch who had just appeared. It wasn't until a figure came flying at him and threw her arms around his neck that he jumped in surprise.

"James!" cried the witch, laughing. "Who would've known it would be _you_ meeting me here!"

James was too shocked to move or even think properly for a good ten seconds. During that time, the woman remained wrapped around him, her arms clamped round his neck. Finally, James was able to summon up the presence of mind to unclasp her hands from around him, and to step back to get a good look at his assailant.

"Cèline!?!" he gasped.

The petite brunette laughed and grasped James' hands in her own, practically jumping in delight. "It's wonderful to see you again, too."

"_Y-You're_ the French ambassador?!" James stuttered.

"Right in one," Cèline smiled charmingly, tilting her head to one side. "Astute as always, Jamie."

James grinned sheepishly. "What can I say? I'm tired and overworked."

"Overworked?" scoffed Cèline, shaking her head. "Yes, maybe, in the bedroom! I read the account of your wedding in the papers, Jamie. She's already been pregnant for _how_ long?!"

James pointedly ignored her. "Let me show you to your room. I've got your key right here."

"You work fast." Cèline smirked as she followed him up the stairs.

They reached her room soon enough and stood, suddenly awkward, in front of the door.

"Well…" James started, then stopped.

"James," Cèline said seriously. "I was very disappointed in you when I heard about your engagement. Even more disappointed when I heard about her being pregnant for so long." She pulled a lock of hair that had escaped from her updo back behind her ear absently. "I can count, James. It didn't take much mental arithmetic to find that she'd been pregnant since late last year…when you were in France. As I recall, you spent a great deal of time during that trip with _me_." Cèline was intent on staring at a point directly beyond James' shoulder and didn't notice the sudden paleness of his face.

"I know we were neither of us very serious about having a relationship," she finally continued. "But I didn't think it was in you to be with two women at once, secretly." She shook a finger at him and finally looked him in the face, a playful smile on her lips. "I'm going to bear a grudge for this, Jamie. You'd better make it up to me."

James finally realized that Cèline wasn't being serious, and smiled back at her in relief. Of course, they had never been serious—and he hated having to lie to her about having "cheated" with Lily during that sojourn in France. All the same, it was good to know that she was taking it so well.

Cèline snatched her key from James' hand and opened her door. As she entered the room, she turned back and grinned. "Let's have a drink together, tonight. For old times' sake."

Tonight…well. He'd looked forward to spending the evening at home, talking to Lily. But then, Lily didn't care whether he was there or not…she'd as much as told him just that morning that she wanted him to see other women…

What harm could it do?

"Mrs. Potter!"

Lily was on her way home from the office after half a day's work, exhausted, when she heard someone calling her. She tried to ignore it, but the voice grew insistently louder and she could feel the curious gaze of passersby trained upon her.

She turned suddenly, and the young man almost crashed headlong into her. He skidded to a halt in front of her and bent over to catch his breath.

"Yes?" she asked impatiently, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'm Ted Parker, photographer for _The Quibbler_," he managed to get out, between gasps.

She merely lifted her chin in response.

He grinned unabashedly and simply handed her a packet of photographs from his pocket.

She took them with a reluctant hand and gave him a suspicious look as she held them to the light. Then she gasped.

They were pictures of James—recent pictures—and he was locked in the embrace of a beautiful brunette. As it was a wizarding photo, the girl leapt into James' arms repeatedly, clinging to him in an intimate embrace. As Ted Parker explained his being a great fan of Mr. Potter's, of his admiring Lily and James as a couple, of his distaste for contributing to horrible gossip, which was why he'd brought her the pictures someone had taken for one of this week's articles…Lily heard not one word.

So he'd taken her to heart when she'd told him to see other women that morning! Of course, that was a good thing…wasn't it?...she _wanted_ him to find someone else! He obviously wasn't interested in _her_, at least not beyond physical attraction, and…well, when her baby was born, and they were divorced, he could move on with his life with very little trouble. This was for the best, really.

All the same, Lily felt a curious ache in her chest as Ted finally left her in the street, the pictures tucked into her coat pocket.

"Master James! Master James!!"

The house-elf's panicked squeaks finally roused James from his _Daily Prophet_, and he looked up in alarm.

"What's wrong?!"

The house-elf was jumping maniacally around the room, pulling at her ears.

"Miss Lily! It's Miss Lily, in the bath, not in the bath—"

James was off and running before she'd even finished saying 'Lily.'

He threw open the door to the bathroom and banished the steam away so quickly he was thrown back by the sudden rush of cool air. "Lily? Lily!!"

Lily was lying on the floor on a heap of towels, her wet hair draping limply across the edge of the tub.

James flushed slightly at the sight of the naked woman in front of him, but lost no time in idle staring. Without thinking to reach for his wand, he picked her up gently and took her to the bedroom, tucking her into the bed and sending the house-elf for a Medi-wizard or witch. Lily's eyelids were fluttering slowly and her face was flushed.

He settled into a chair by the bed, holding her pale hand in both of his.

The Medi-wizard appeared a couple minutes later, and after a brief check-up, announced that Lily had simply risen from the bath too quickly and had fainted from the excessive steam and sudden rush of blood.

"She probably spent too long lying in that bathtub," the Medi-wizard explained patiently to a frantic Terrence, as they had a drink in the sitting room.

The first things Lily saw when she woke were James' concerned hazel eyes gazing at her. He was very close.

"Sleep a little longer," he said, brushing her hair from her face. "You need it…you're tired. You fainted on the bathroom floor."

Lily suddenly realized that she was naked beneath the sheets. She felt her entire face flame up and inadvertently shrieked. "Don't tell me you—I—not wearing any—!!!"

"It couldn't be helped!" cried James, turning away. His face, Lily noticed, was quite flushed as well. "The house-elf didn't know what to do and Terrence was on the other side of the house."

"AAAHH!" Lily burrowed beneath the blankets. Her voice came out muffled. "I can't believe you saw me…my belly…beginning to show…awful…of all the embarrassing…did you see everything?..."

James turned away and covered his face with one hand. His voice came out muffled, as well. "In dreams, I've seen…well…but…and I know you're pregnant, it's bound to show…but you ought to take better care of yourself…"

Lily wasn't listening to him…she'd just remembered the pictures in her coat pocket. She'd been thinking about James and that girl again, as she'd settled into the bath. She must have stayed in the water longer than she'd thought…well, it didn't matter what James did with other women anyway, it's not like he wanted her…and sex without the commitment of a relationship wasn't what she was looking for, now…

"You might as well sleep with her," she burst out, suddenly furious. "Merlin knows _we'll_ never sleep together. And until we divorce…"

"UGH!" James yelled. "You just don't understand me, do you?! You don't understand anything! Well, fine, if that's what you want!! I'll go!" He turned away and started across the room, fury in his every movement.

"Where are you going?!" Lily yelled after him, with a sudden twinge of fear in her heart.

"I don't have to tell you where I go in my spare time," James answered, his voice now low and dangerous. "It's in the contract, remember?" He kicked a chair violently as he left the room.

James and Sirius arrived at the Golden Phoenix Lounge together, later that night. James had decided that even though Cèline seemed to be perfectly fine with their whole history, it would be extra insurance against awkward moments to bring Sirius along. Besides, he wasn't in much of a sociable mood at the moment. He'd rather nurse his drink in a corner and let Cèline and Sirius do all the talking.

Cèline beckoned to them from the bar. Her dark hair was bound back by a simple fillet of ribbon, and she wore a short, tight, and low-cut dress that made Sirius raise his eyebrows and whistle in appreciation.

Several drinks later, Sirius left for some pressing engagement with "a friend" (said with a smirk). Several shots had not made James forget the Lily situation, but it _had_ loosened his tongue considerably, and he and Cèline were having as much of a heart-to-heart talk as two tipsy people are able to have.

"So," Cèline slurred, "what _really_ made me angry about your doings in France last year…with Lily, I mean…" She took another large gulp from the bottle they were sharing. "It was the fact that…that…you never gave me th' chance…chance…to say…goodbyeeeee!"

James simply blinked at her, a large portion of his ale dribbling down his chin. She tried to reach forward to lick it off, but James was swaying in his seat and clumsily swiped her away with one hand. Undaunted, she finished her last drink and ran a hand up and down James' arm.

"I'm going up to my room now," she breathed, her eyelids sultry and heavy with drink. "You're welcome to join me…you know where it is."

She picked up her bag and started off across the lounge, veering slightly to one side. "Just to say goodbye," she slurred once more, before leaving the room.

James sat by himself and summoned up as much presence of mind as he could. He didn't want to sleep with Cèline. Love for Lily had effectively ruined his desire for any other woman…but…it was hopeless. He downed another glass. Lily didn't love him…she didn't need him…she might be physically attracted to him, but nothing more. She wanted him to find someone else…and…he closed his eyes and leaned his head against the wall. It didn't matter. Why not?

He left a few coins on the table and walked slowly toward the stairs.

"Lily. Lily??"

Lily looked up from her book and started as she saw Sirius' head floating in the flames. She went to kneel by the fireplace. "What's wrong, Sirius?"

"It's James."

She felt her heart stop and her face pale—but she struggled to keep a neutral expression. "Yes?" she managed. "What about him? What's happened??"

"I think you'd better go get him…he's at the Golden Phoenix having a drink with Cèline Rouchard, the ambassador to the French Ministry. I think they've both had a bit much."

"I think James can handle his own affairs," Lily said coldly. "There's no need to involve me in it."

"Look, Lily," Sirius said, his dark brows drawing together. "I don't know how you feel about James at this point—your marriage has just been one huge mystery to me. I also don't know how much James has told you about his past—particularly his past with Cèline." Lily looked surprised and Sirius snorted. "Yes, James and Cèline were lovers, on and off. Of course, neither of them was serious…but I know that at the time of his trip to France last autumn, he was planning to see her in Paris. I also know that he never officially broke the relationship off with her…such as it was. I suppose it wasn't important to either of them…but Cèline wasn't quite as forthcoming about owning up to her feelings of apathy about your relationship as she would normally have been. She's not a saint, herself, but it was a tough pill to swallow—they've known each other for quite some time."

He looked up at Lily earnestly. "James was in a horrible mood tonight. I don't know what happened between the two of you today but James is my best friend, and has been my best friend since we were eleven. I can tell when he's suffering, and I know he cares for you a great deal. I don't like to see him this way, Lily."

Sirius sighed and tossed his head in frustration. "I'm not sure what I'm trying to say, here…just that…I'd hate to think that something that happened between the two of you today would make James angry enough, or hurt enough, to get so sloshed that he'd do something he would regret when sober."

Lily still didn't look convinced, though she definitely looked uncomfortable. She bit her lip. "But—"

"Let's forget everything I've said already and just leave it at this, shall we—James is in absolutely NO condition to apparate right now, which is undoubtedly what he's going to try to do. He'll splinch himself. Defense needs him too much for the delay it would cause. Go get him."

With that, Sirius' head disappeared from the fireplace and Lily was left kneeling before the fire, deep in thought.

"I'm glad you came," Cèline sighed, as she made short work of James' shirt. Cèline had insisted that both of them take a bit of sobering draught—not enough to completely sober them up, but just enough to prevent them from being sick all over each other, or missing the bed and ending up on the floor.

"Tonight I'll help you remember every night we had together in France…" she murmured, lips brushing his ear as her hands came to rest on his belt.

James was completely lost to everything—even the sensations that Cèline was awakening were indistinct and seemed to be happening to someone else entirely…somewhere far away…

All he could think of at the moment was the expression on Lily's face as she'd told him she would never sleep with him, that he might as well find someone else. It was a stupid statement, but the look on her face and the flashing of her eyes said volumes more…there was no love for him on her face, no answering emotion in her eyes, and all he could see in her expression bespoke coldness and loathing.

"James…" Cèline said into his neck. She pulled away and suddenly stopped. "James…? James, what's wrong?"

There was such a pained look on his face and his eyes were narrowed and glittered strangely… Cèline was almost completely sobered by it.

"She doesn't care," James said to himself. Cèline's eyes widened. "She doesn't care…nothing…at all …so cold. She doesn't understand…my feelings…at all. It doesn't matter."

His throat was working and Cèline could surely see it, but he didn't care.

Cèline watched him, shocked, confused, contemplative. She was reaching out to him when there came a knock on the door. A shy, hesitant knock, followed by two brisk and businesslike.

"Yes?" called Cèline, her voice sharp as she put a hand to James' face. "Who is it?"

There was a pause. "My name is Lily Ev—I mean, Lily Potter. I was wondering if you'd seen my husband…?"

James froze in place. Cèline glanced at him briefly, before striding to the door and flinging it open. "He's here," she said abruptly, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "You can take him home. But first, I'd like to have a word with you…in private." She stooped, picked up James' shirt, and handed it to him. "James, could you wait in the lobby, please."

He nodded and moved woodenly across the room and out the door, studiously avoiding Lily's gaze.

Lily inclined her head, taking the measure of this witch her husband had fancied (still fancied?) as the door shut behind him. Cèline was certainly very pretty, with a pointed, saucy little face and beautiful dark tresses—such a rich, dark brown that they glinted black in some lights. Her figure, of course, was wonderful—Lily could tell even from that fluffy robe that covered most of her body. Well! So James liked brunettes, did he? For the first time since her seventh year at Hogwarts, for just a split-second, Lily felt a pang of longing for dark hair and a petite figure instead of her red-gold locks and tall, slim build. Then she came to her senses and shook her head—she didn't want to change anything…

Cèline cast a silencing charm on the room and then turned and glared at Lily with such ferocity that she seemed like a much larger, more intimidating person.

"How dare you," she said, in a quiet, tense voice. "I wasn't completely worked up over James' marriage when I heard…I took coming here as an ambassador as an opportunity to check up on him, to make sure he was happy. I wouldn't have minded at all, if I'd come to find him happy with his situation and with his wife and the coming baby. But now—" Cèline's voice rose in fury. "What have you done to him?! Can't you see how much he loves you? You must be completely heartless! Cruel! He would do anything for you—I've never seen him look so hurt or troubled, no, not even when he was threatened by the Dark Lord…how could you simply let your marriage fall apart, to—"

"That's enough!" James had come back into the room, obviously having removed Cèline's silencing charm and having heard at least part of the conversation. He took a deep breath as he came to stand between the two women, facing Cèline. "Look, Cèline, what happens between Lily and myself is our business and no one else's. I'm sorry you feel this way, but you needn't trouble yourself about it any more." He grabbed Lily's hand and dragged her from the room at such a pace that all she could do to avoid tripping was run along.

James apparated once they reached the sidewalk, taking Lily back home with him with a loud _CRACK._

They appeared in the bedroom and he let go of her hand, collapsing into the sofa and covering his face with his hands. There were a few minutes of silence as Lily caught her breath and James seemed lost in a world of his own. Then he lifted his head again and looked at Lily—and her heart constricted as she saw the redness of his eyes and the pallor of his face.

"Are you all right?" he asked gently. "I'm sorry—I forgot that it isn't safe for you to apparate…do you feel anything wrong?"

Lily, temporarily unable to speak, shook her head wildly.

"Good." James sighed and turned away slightly before looking her in the face again. He got up and approached her, and stood before her with his arms at his sides. He took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry about what Cèline said back there," he said finally. "There was no excuse for it. Cèline and I…well, I don't know how much you know about that, but…there's nothing between us now. And…I'm really—"

"Is it true?" Lily asked suddenly.

"Is what true?"

She looked down at her hands, clasped before her, then up at James. Her eyes were full of tears. "Is it true, what she said, about—"

"Nothing she said was true…nothing. Don't feel badly…you aren't the one making the marriage fall apart, you've tried to make it everything we'd agreed on in the contract, it's my fault, for wanting more…everything's my fault…"

"No, not that…" Lily wasn't sure if she could ask for specifics. Gryffindor grant her strength. What had he just said, about wanting more? She threw back her head, raised her chin, and stared him straight in the eye. "What she said…about…your loving me."

His eyes softened as he looked at her and a sad smile tugged at the corner of his lips. It took a few seconds before he was able to reply.

"Of course…do you even need to ask? How could I help loving you…anyone help loving you…"

Lily's tears brimmed over and flowed down her face unchecked. Her mouth seemed twisted between a frown and a smile. "You didn't make the marriage fall apart…that part of what she said was true…it was me, it was my being afraid to tell you what I really felt." She gasped, half-sobbed, and smiled brilliantly through her tears. "James…I love you."

He stared at her—she stared back—and then they were in each other's arms.

It was a shock, in a way—but in the end it was exactly what they'd hoped for and expected. And as they held each other close—then struggled closer, past clothes and space between—and tried to show what they felt as ardently as they could, they both knew that this was real, this was the truth, and it was completely and utterly right.


	9. Chapter 9: Prophecy & Resolution

Disclaimer: Not mine, J. K. Rowling, Chiho Saito…

A/N: I do believe this is the last chapter! Well, I'll have another epilogue, probably, to explain certain things after I write "Cupid's Night." I know I've left a few things unexplained (for example, "Who's the baby's real father?!"), but no worries—it'll come clear in "Cupid's Night" and the epilogue. And…yeah, too tired for anything else tonight. Comments? Questions? Fire away!

* * *

**Chapter 9 – Prophecy & Resolution**

"Uggghghhhh…" moaned Lily, covering her mouth with one hand as she rose from the breakfast table and hastened toward the nearest bathroom.

"Uggghhghhgh…" moaned James, as he put his cup down and turned a putrid shade of green. "Why do I feel sick, too?" He followed Lily to the bathroom and held her hair out of the way, his face blanching with her every heave.

"They're like sympathy pains," chortled Terrence delightedly, as he finished his toast. "They say when a couple's relationship is very close, the man will start experiencing the things his wife feels during her pregnancy…" He chortled some more as he left the room. "I'm glad you two are getting along!"

Later, James sighed into Lily's hair as he held her on the sofa. "I'll be home early today," he said.

"Again?" asked Lily, cuddling closer. "I love having you here with me, but…is it really all right for you to be spending so much time away from work?"

"You're more important than work," James said fondly. He tipped her face up to kiss her sweetly on the mouth. "Baby's due soon…I want to spend as much time as I possibly can with you before the baby's actually born." Lily's eyes popped open and she pulled back slightly to look at him as he spoke. "I can't concentrate on work, now, anyway…"

"Are you afraid that the baby will come between us once it's born, since it's not yours?" Lily blurted, flushing as she spoke. Her eyes were averted.

James looked at her closely for a moment before replying. "Well…" he sighed. "To be completely honest with you—yeah, a bit."

"Oh—" said Lily, looking worried. "James—is it really all right—I mean, I don't know what could be done about it now, but—I feel like—that is—"

"Oy!" James pushed Lily away from him a little, holding her at arm's length and staring, aghast, at her belly. "He kicked me!!" His wide eyes met Lily's. "He heard what I was saying, got mad and kicked me!! Why that little—" James burst out laughing, his expression full of joy, as he placed one hand on Lily's abdomen and the other round Lily's shoulder.

"I—I'm…sor—" Lily stammered, confused.

James pulled her to him suddenly and held her as close as possible, smiling as the baby continued to move between them. "How could you ask if it's really all right?" He closed his eyes and ran his fingers through her hair. "Lily—the contract is over and forgotten…and I don't want to get a divorce after the baby is born…I'll be a good father—the best you've ever seen…"

Lily's eyes widened, her chin propped on James' shoulder. Then her expression softened, and tears blurred her vision as she turned her head to meet James in a kiss.

Just then, Terrence rushed into the room, banging the door open so hard it smashed into the adjacent wall and knocked a picture from the wall.

"I've just had news from Dumbledore!" he cried, wringing his hands as he eyed Lily. "Oh, it's not good…not good at all…"

"What's happened?" James and Lily said simultaneously, jumping up and apart as though they'd been burned.

Terrence tried to speak, but clutched at his chest and fell to the ground.

He was revived in St. Mungo's and requested that Lily and James be brought to him at once.

James had been trying to contact Dumbledore from the fireplace, to no avail. The Headmaster seemed to be traveling somewhere at the moment.

Lily dragged him back to the hospital with her as soon as Terrence woke. The two of them went cautiously into his room, treading lightly around his prone form on the immaculate hospital bed.

"Has there been another attack?" asked Lily.

"No…that is…not yet…" Terrence managed, as James summoned an aide and got a glass of water for him.

"There's a planned attack?" James said, brow furrowing.

"Sort of…" Terrence took a deep breath after drinking his water and lay back down. "There's been news of a prophecy…Dumbledore heard it himself."

"Aren't true Seers extremely rare?"

"Well, yes," Terrence said, nodding vigorously. "But even Dumbledore believed this one…it has to do with the Dark Lord's downfall."

"Why were you so upset?" asked Lily. "That's _brilliant_ news!"

"It's not so simple," Terrence said. "Basically, from what Dumbledore's told me, the one who has the powers to vanquish him hasn't been born yet…"

"…'yet'?" A dawning look of comprehension was spreading across James' face as he turned to look at Lily.

"You see," Terrence said softly, looking at James.

"What does that have to do with—" Lily noticed the two men staring at her—or staring markedly at her swollen midsection—and stopped, her mouth falling open. "No! You don't mean—"

"Well, perhaps…" Terrence said, slowly. "The prophecy wasn't exactly clear. It didn't specify the child's name, simply said it would be born at the end of July…"

"That could be anyone!" exclaimed James, beginning to pace the floor as well. "Why ours? For all we know, the child the prophecy speaks of could be a Muggle-born!"

"There's more." Terrence tugged at his graying hair with both hands. "The child must be born to parents that have escaped from the Dark Lord three times…"

James snorted. "Well, I don't know about Lily, but I haven't escaped from the Dark Lord any more than…" He thought for a moment, and his face fell.

"Thrice…" Lily finished, holding up three fingers in wonder. She shared a silent look with James, who nodded and shrugged as though to say the decision to speak was entirely up to her. She turned to Terrence. "But Terrence…" she began, moving forward to clasp his hand in hers. "The baby…it's not…it's not really Jam—"

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

"Come in," called Terrence, as James opened it.

Morgan strode in, with a tiny white parcel in his hand. He handed it to Terrence, saying simply, "Dumbledore again, sir," before walking out of the room once more.

Lily and James were both silent as Terrence unfolded the parcel, which was actually a piece of parchment folded into a tiny cube. His eyes scanned the page and then, as he dropped it to the side of the bed, it puffed into a bit of dust and disappeared.

"Looks like they've narrowed the choices down," Terrence said finally, after another sip of water. "The child in question has got to be either yours, or the Longbottoms'. And this is only if both your children are born at the end of July…when is your baby to be born?"

"The projected birth-date was July 31st, last time I had a check-up," Lily said.

"And they're never wrong…" Terrence murmured. He closed his eyes tiredly. "I need to rest now…come back a little later, James…we've got to talk about the two of you going into hiding as soon as the baby's born…"

"But—" began James. Terrence waved a hand weakly in dismissal. Exchanging worried looks, James and Lily reluctantly left the room.

They arrived at home in silence and sat together in the study, not doing anything.

Finally, James spoke up. "Lily…I know…you don't like me asking this, and I wouldn't, if it weren't so important…but…surely you should find out…about the baby's real father. If he's faced Voldemort—"

Lily simply gazed into the fireplace unseeingly.

James sighed. He rubbed his eyes and stood up. "Listen, I'm going to go to the office…there's probably chaos there…"

Lily barely nodded her assent and James apparated away.

As it happened, there WAS chaos at the office. It seemed there had been an even greater number of attacks than usual that day, and the trend continued through the subsequent days, forcing James to spend almost a week straight at the office. He hardly laid eyes on Lily during this time, as she seemed to be occupied with the baby's approaching birth-date and her own share of work.

When there was finally a brief lull between cases, Morgan ordered James home for a rest. "You look dead on your feet," he said, patting James on the back. "Go home and take a nap…things are under control here."

"Oh, Merlin," James said, pulling off his glasses and rubbing at his eyes. "And there's still _that_ to worry about…I can't go home now, I still need to find out more about…"

"No, you don't." Morgan steered James toward the office door. "Whatever it is, it can wait."

"No, you don't understand—" James tried to pull away from Morgan's grasp. "It's so important—I've got to find a way to protect Lily, and the baby—the baby—"

Sirius cast a temporary silencing charm on him, and threatened to tie him up and escort him home. James, finally owning to himself that he couldn't think properly on so little sleep, told them all right, all right, he'd go home—but to call him if anything came up.

He apparated home and called for Lily.

After James had asked her about the baby's real father, Lily had come to a decision—she had to find out whether the father of the baby had indeed faced Voldemort three times, whether he had been a threat to the Dark Lord in the past…

After some hunting, she found a little golden key and went to a small Gringott's vault, from which she retrieved several slips of tattered parchment. Then she went home.

She locked the door to her room and sat down in front of her fireplace. She threw some powder into the flames and whispered something.

A young witch's head appeared before her, looking startled. Her expression settled into a cold mask and she lifted an eyebrow. "Yes, Mrs. Potter?"

Lily smiled softly, meeting the woman's gaze fully and fearlessly with her own. "Miss Rouchard, I have a few questions that I must ask you…"

"I don't know why I should help you!" Cèline scoffed. Then, a trifle more seriously, she asked, "Are things all right with James?"

"Yes, for now," Lily replied. She folded her hands before her. "Actually, the reason I'm asking is for James' sake…James' safety is at stake…more than it usually is…"

Cèline looked incredulous. "I didn't think that was possible."

"I'll tell you what I can, if you'll answer some questions for me."

The French witch nodded. "Speak."

The ink was just drying on the parchment Lily had finished writing on, when James arrived at home and began calling her name.

She went to meet him in the corridor and sent his cloak to the closet. He looked so tired that for a moment she was afraid he'd collapse in the hall before she could get her wand out. She took his hand and led him toward the bedroom.

"James, you look awful," she said gently, closing the door and leading him to the bed. "Go to sleep."

"I can't…not yet…I will, after we talk about—" James exclaimed incoherently, as Lily pushed him onto the bed. "The prophecy, Lily. Whether or not the father's—the thing is, everyone thinks the father's me. Which must include Voldemort and whatever death eaters he's using to spy on us…meaning the baby will be targeted anyway. _We'll_ be targeted, as well. Not that I wasn't before. We've got to think about going into hiding, Lily, after the baby's born…"

"Shhh," hushed Lily, tucking the blankets around him as his eyes drifted shut against his will. "Sleep now…we can think of the rest later…" She bent over him and kissed him gently…and when she straightened, James was sound asleep. A tear glistened for a moment on her cheek, and then landed soundlessly on James' face. He didn't stir.

Lily pulled her cloak carefully around herself and placed a piece of official parchment carefully on James' desk. Then she tucked her hair beneath a hat and left the room, closing the door softly behind her.

James woke several hours later with a horrible pain in his stomach area. Clutching his side, he managed to crawl out of bed—and found the room dark and empty about him.

"Lily?" he called, and the sound of his voice echoed from the walls. It was unnaturally silent, except for the faint patter of rain outside.

He got to his feet and walked to the door, calling her name softly into the darkness of the hall. Still no response.

He went back inside the room and noticed something sitting on the desk. It seemed to be an official parchment of some kind, and a letter…

_James—_

_I've contacted someone who knows about the baby's father—and it turns out he, too, had been threatened by Voldemort many times, and had escaped from him three times…_

_This means, of course, that the baby might still be in the one in the prophecy…the prophecy which also said that the Dark Lord would "mark" the child as his equal. He'll be coming for my baby, James._

_I know the contract doesn't matter to us anymore, and that you weren't planning to follow through with the divorce after the baby is born. James—I must ask you to reconsider._

_The baby and I—we're not your responsibility. This baby isn't yours, and you shouldn't have to hide away because of it, wondering each day whether Voldemort would appear on your doorstep, along with certain death…I know you would make it your responsibility, and that you would give up your life for the baby or myself…but I would never be able to live with myself if I knew that you—that something happened to you, and that it was all my fault…_

_Please, please...do this for me, James._

_Lily_

Next to the letter was a large sheet of parchment bearing Lily's signature. Divorce papers.

James stared at them for a little while, unbelieving. Then he ripped them into tiny pieces and threw them into the fire.

"Noppy!"

The house-elf appeared immediately, as though she'd been waiting to be summoned. "Yes, Master James?"

"Did you see Lily go out?"

"Yes, Master James," she answered tremulously. "She said she was going for a drive, she did, and took the little red Muggle machine…"

"Did she say where she was going to go?!" demanded James, his voice rising in spite of himself.

"N-no," Noppy answered fearfully. Suddenly she began beating her head against the floor. "Noppy is sorry! Noppy would never have let Miss Lily go if Noppy knew Miss Lily shouldn't go…Miss Lily said she felt fine…Noppy is so—"

"There, there, Noppy," James said soothingly, patting her head. "Never mind punishing yourself—it's not your fault. I'll find Lily and bring her back. Don't worry."

He made sure Noppy had gone back to her room off the kitchen before grabbing his favorite broom from the closet and leaping off the bedroom balcony into the gray summer rain.

James groaned and barely swerved in time—he'd been a few inches away from slamming into a tree. He clutched his side. Why was he hurting so badly? It wasn't as if he'd eaten anything bad—

And that was when he remembered. _Sympathy pains!_

_Oh, Lily, please be all right…please be all right…I don't know what I would do if—_

"OW!" cried James, and was forced to land clumsily in the opening into an alleyway just off the main street. That had been the biggest wave of pain yet…

He turned, ready to kick off again, when he noticed a glimpse of red across the street. Was that—?

He left his beloved broom lying in the alley as he rushed across the street to the red sports car that was sitting wearily, half-in and half-out of a ditch, at the side of the road. He could see a shadowy figure sitting in the driver's seat…a glint of bright hair pushed against the seatback…his heart was beating so hard he could barely hear anything above the pounding of blood in his ears…

James yanked the door open and found Lily huddled in one corner of the front seat, her cloak twisted about her and tears in her eyes.

"It hurt too much," she whispered. "I couldn't drive properly…tried to park…wheel…stuck in the ditch…no one around to help…"

Before she could say another word, James had her wrapped tightly in his arms. He was almost crying with relief.

"Don't ever leave me again," he mumbled, burying his face in her hair. "Don't say anything about divorce…don't leave me…don't scare me like this…"

"I had to, don't you see?" asked Lily, through her tears. "I couldn't let you—I knew you'd say—"

"No," James said strongly, holding her face in his hands. "It doesn't matter what happens. I've already been targeted—Voldemort has no reason to leave me be, even if we separated. And…Lily, I can't live without you. I'd rather—die defending you, than live without being with you every day…"

The tears were streaming down her face. James kissed them away.

"It doesn't matter," James said. "As long as we're together…with the baby…and even the prophecy won't matter in the end, you see…our son will have the power to vanquish Voldemort…and then—not just us—the world we live in…will be free."

Lily gasped, and pulled his head down to hers. "I love you," she whispered.

James smiled at her, giddy with relief, and pulled her closer.

They sat together in silence for a little while, simply enjoying being together—despite the rain, and the deserted, muddy street.

"James," Lily said, breaking the silence. "What was your father's name?"

"Harold," James replied. "Why?"

"Harry James Potter," tried Lily. "It has a ring to it, don't you think?"

James didn't say anything for a few seconds. When his voice finally came out, it came as a croak. "Don't you think you ought to name the baby for his father?"

"No," Lily replied calmly. "I've thought it over—and—I really think I want to name the baby after you and your father…" She smiled up at him. "I'm glad he had you…and I'm glad I have you…. To me, and to the baby, _you're_ the only father..."

Just then—she cried out, and bent over her stomach. "James—James!!" she cried. "I think—it's time!!"

James paced the corridor outside Lily's room in St. Mungo's with an energy that was a bit frightening to see—to be outdone by anyone, not even Terrence, who was pacing the opposite end of the hall.

The sun had risen and the day outside had heated up. The halls of St. Mungo's were bustling with people, who threw James aggravated looks when he bumped into them and walked on without apologizing.

Suddenly James plopped down on a seat and groaned. "MERLIN! THE PAIN!"

_Must be about time._ James clutched his midsection and closed his eyes. _This baby…it's really the baby that played the role of Cupid and brought Lily and me together, isn't it? _ He smiled. _I wonder if he'll look like Lily? Or…_

A medi-witch emerged from the room triumphantly and James leapt to his feet. "Congratulations!" she cried, smiling widely at everyone waiting. "You've got a new baby boy!"

_…On the off-chance,_ James thought, as he started for the room, _will the baby look like _**me**_??_


End file.
